Continued from the last page . . .

SWIMMING UPSTREAM

Although the bears didn't come back yesterday while Jim was there, we had other wildlife to enjoy.

From the decks high above the Russian River we were able to see salmon resting in a little eddy part way up the falls. These haven't turned red yet; that's closer to the time they spawn and die.

I highlighted part of the next photo so you can see the fish more clearly:

We could also see salmon swimming upstream and flying above the water as in the classic photos but we couldn’t capture that with our cameras. Cool!

When the bears weren't around about a dozen gulls were standing and flying around the long wooden weir at the bottom of the falls.

I didn’t see the birds going after any fish. They scattered each time the bears came out, then quickly returned to the water or nearby perches when the bears went back into the woods with the fish. They eat scraps left by bears or dead salmon they find in the water. A lot of salmon die before reaching their spawning grounds.

This gull was observing the scene from a tree:

We also saw at least one bald eagle near the falls each day we were there. We didn’t see them try to catch a salmon.

When we gave up waiting for the bears to return yesterday Jim rode back to the truck, put his bike in the back, and drove to the camper. He ended up with 14 miles.

View along the trail

After Jim left the falls area Cody and I continued walking for a while – about a mile back to the bridge/trail intersection to the lake, another mile to the Lower Lake (see next entry for that), and three-plus miles back to the trailhead from the lake. We walked along the access road another 3/4 mile to the campground.

My total hiking mileage with Cody yesterday was almost ten miles.

Cody-pup is still going strong at nine years of age. This is a good trail for dogs because there is plenty of water along the way:

He also got to swim in the river two places and in Lower Russian Lake.

TODAY'S RIDE ON THE TRAIL 

I enjoyed hiking the Russian Lakes Trail to the falls so much yesterday that I rode it on my bike this morning. Jim decided to go, too.

We didn't take the truck to the trailhead this time. We just rode our bikes from our campsite along the campground access road to the upper parking area for the Russian Lakes Trail where we parked yesterday and got on the trail there.

Pink wild roses on the trail to the falls

We started at about 427 feet elevation at our campsite, went up to 712 feet in the first 1½ miles on the road and trail, and down to 287 feet at the falls.

Jim rides ahead of me this morning on the way back from the falls.

The grade is pretty gradual at the beginning but tougher coming back up from the falls. We made it without stopping on either long hill. It was work; our legs were tired from our longer workouts yesterday.

We were the only ones at the falls overlook for about 25 minutes, which was nice. We waited patiently for the bears to come out but we didn’t see them this morning.

Above and below:  Ya gotta get to the falls pretty early to have both decks to yourself!

We watched salmon resting in the eddy and swimming up the fast-moving water in the middle of the river. We watched the gulls and an eagle flying around.

The weather was cool but very nice, with some sun and not much breeze.

 

Above and below:  Jim took this photo of me taking photos of the river below us.

Here are some more pictures of the turbulent water and the fish weir at the bottom of the falls (used to count the number of salmon making it to this point).

Try to imagine being an older salmon coming back to your birthplace to spawn (then die) and having to muscle your way up through that challenging waterfall! We couldn't even see all of it from the overlooks.

 

 

 

We left when about 15 people arrived at the overlooks. Our peaceful reverie was over.

We didn’t go to the lake again today but we rode another couple miles on paved roads in the campground when we got back. We did eight miles in less than an hour, not including the time we stopped at the falls.

GOOD TRAIL FOR MOST EVERYONE

We can enthusiastically recommend this trail to the falls. The scenery through the forests, valleys, and along the river is great and the wildlife show can't be beat if you are fortunate enough to see bears fishing for salmon in the summer. 

Because of the bears (and possibly moose) the Fish & Game website warns trail users to use the normal safety precautions advised in Alaska.

Bear poop and trampled vegetation along the more narrow section of trail to the lakes

This is a good trail for birders. The website lists several species that are often seen, including harlequin ducks, red-breasted and common mergansers, spruce grouse, two kinds of woodpeckers, American dippers, Bohemian waxwings, and Townsend's warblers.

As noted, we also saw numerous gulls and a couple bald eagles at the falls.

This section has some rather large gravel.

I question how easy it would be for someone to negotiate this trail in a wheelchair. The Fish & Game Department website says it's wheelchair accessible.

It looks to me like you'd need a wheelchair designed for racing to negotiate this trail. It is not paved, some of the gravel is a bit large, and there are long hills up from the trailheads and falls at either end of the trail to the high point. I think you'd have to be pretty strong (or have someone pretty strong pushing you) to negotiate this trail in a regular wheelchair -- or to push a child in a stroller. A baby jogger used by runners would work well for young kids.

I do agree that it is a pretty easy trail for people of all ages to run or hike and mostly easy to ride on a mountain bike if you're used to hills. We saw folks of all ages and sizes hiking the trail and a few (more athletic-looking) ones on bikes. I saw one couple walking their bikes up the trail from the falls.

Next entry:  the trail to Lower Russian Lake

Happy trails,

Sue
"Runtrails & Company" - Sue Norwood, Jim O'Neil, and Cody the ultra Lab

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© 2012 Sue Norwood and Jim O'Neil