Karen and I hiked early in shady Squilchuck State Park. Today's high is 100-degrees. With volunteers, Evergreen Mountain Bicycle Alliance built wonderful trails in the park and across WA State. We explored a newly-open, extremely challenging trail.

We chatted with two men who build trails. A Mule Deer buck and four females ran by.

"There go my friends," Matthew said. "This year while I worked on this new trail, the deer got used to me. They grazed nearby as I worked. I often saw them in different parts of the park."

"One day, the buck was walking toward me on a trail," Matthew said. "He stopped, lowered his head and squared off in a threatening stance. He raised his head and sniffed the air. He visibly relaxed because he recognized my scent."

"It took four years to build this trail," Matthew said. "We're not done. Washington State is supposed to make trail signs. (They haven't yet.) I'll probably make the signs myself."

"I got my 14-year-old daughter to help build the rock trails," Matthew laughed. "Boy, was she tired at the end of each day!" Some rock trails fit together beautifully like jigsaw puzzles.

Bear sign

"This stump shows sign of bear," Karen said, stopping. "See how the bear tore apart the stump searching for insects and grubs?"

Phone slid out of my pocket

When I pulled down my pants to pee, my phone fell out of the pocket and hit the dirt. Glad I saw it! Several women hikers we know lost their phones this way. Twice.

We hiked six miles with over a thousand feet of elevation gain.

When I got home, I firmly sewed in two large snaps to hold the pocket shut. Dropped my drawers and the phone stayed put. Shook the pants upside-down. Victory!

Photos:

1. Mountain ridges from a high trail.

2. Pine Drop flowers. Pine Drops are the last flower to pop out of the ground.

3. A bear tore apart this stump looking for grubs.

4. Beautiful rock-work on a trail using materials at hand. This section of trail goes across a steep rock slide.