Six of us parked once again at Murphy's Gate (horseshoe tree) to try the Western States Trail going up the American River. Once again, we were impressed with this trail. It had mostly good solid footing with plenty of elevation gain and loss, and good signage. It follows an old RR bed, crosses the river and parallels Highway 49 as it ascends towards Cool. The only annoying part were the many logging trucks heading back and forth on 49. When the trail veered from the road, we found an open location above the trail to eat lunch. It would have been fun to hike to Cool but three of us needed to return at a decent time. This trail is suggesting further exploration in the future, perhaps starting from Cool or further along. It was fun to see a string of mules being ridden up the trail. The riders were all decked out with big hats and coiled ropes. We had hiked 8.5 miles with a 1200 ft elevation gain.
Can you find our shadows?
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