Fortson Ponds and Whitehorse Trail #40

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Life has been so crazy lately that I have barley had time to think...well it feels that way. With it getting dark at around 4 pm and working there has not been anytime to get out and hike. So needless to say when I found out that I didn't have to work, the kids were on Christmas break and L had the day off, we planned a hike! We decided on Fortson Ponds and Whitehorse Trail because L's dad gave me a book about hikes to do in Snohomish County a few Sabbath's ago when we were over for lunch. After going through the book we decided to do Fortson Ponds and the Whitehorse Trail. It is flat and an easy 2 miles, plus my boys could ride their bikes. (They have been begging to bring their bikes along on every hike that we have done.) And we decided that we could leave later in the afternoon and go the opposite direction of all of the traffic after I did all of my Christmas shopping; that morning! We left my house at about 1:00 pm and drove the 38 minuets (according to the map). To get there head East on 530 to Darrington and at mile post 42/Fortson Mill Rd turn left. Head down a little hill and at the bottom is a parking lot. (FYI there is no bathroom.)
Driving there we were very excited to see that we would be hiking/riding in the snow. Once we were down the hill I had to do donuts in the parking lot. 🙂
Once the boys had the bikes unloaded and the wheels put back on we headed down the path
to the main section of the White Horse Trail.
Immediately on the right of the main trail before the bridge in the bottom picture is a little trail that is barely visible. We passed it and had to come back.
You do get to see this part of the old building on the right as you walk up the trail.
Once you are on the little trail you can walk onto this grate that lets you look straight down into the little "falls" and the beginning of the pond.
The pond was once the area that was used to de-bark the logs that came to the mill. According to the 2015/2016 Hiking Guide of Snohomish County the ponds are used now for spawning by chum and coho salmon. We obviously didn't see any salmon since it is winter time.

Follow the trail around the pond that will then bring you to
                                                                                    a view like this to enjoy,
                                                    and railings you so you can lean over and look into the pond.
Then the little wooden bridge that was very slippery. But my oldest rode his bike across and the my middle one pushed his bike across.
and the youngest walked across all by herself. Which is wonderful, because when we first started hiking 3 years ago she wouldn't cross them, they completely freaked her out. The dog decided that she had to cross multiple times.
Once over the bridge, you come to a wide open area and want to go right. This leads you to this path
 straight to the ruins of the mill. It is cool because you can go into them, but we didn't. I also didn't take any pictures of them because people have covered the wall in graffiti....lots of clowns everywhere.
 Down exploring we headed right back to the car. The kids weren't ready to head home yet so we decided to head back to the Whitehorse Trail and go straight over the big bridge. My oldest pointed out this plane that someone left on it. I don't think I would have noticed it because I was busy talking and enjoying the views.
                                    I did get a picture of the kids and the bikes with the mill behind them.
 The dog and kids were so happy to be outside enjoying the snow. We love it if you couldn't tell. This picture shows how straight and wide the Whitehorse Trail is. The Whitehorse Trail is 27 miles long and goes all the way from Arlington to Darrington.
One of these days I am going to do the whole thing. Also the Whitehorse Trail follows along the North Fork of the Stillaguamish River. If you look closely you can see a guy fly fishing. It seemed a little cold to be fly fishing, but it did look like fun.  The few people we saw while hiking, were in the river fly fishing so we had the trail all to ourselves. After a bit we decided that we were cold enough to turn around and head home; after one more donut around the parking lot.
I hope you all had a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year with lots of hiking planned!



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