Now ask yourself, should it be that way? Nah. Abandoned trails need love, too. And boots. Without a pair of loving boots every once in a while these trails won't be simply abandoned, they'll disappear.

So... let's go hike on these trails and update the WTA database so others can check them out. We've done it before. Lots. Places like Rock Creek Falls way up the Middle Fork and Beaver Lake in the Okanogan.

This time it was at Snoqualmie Pass. Tinkham was still out of commission and my friends are smarter than I am so I was solo. My target was a trail that has been abandoned since the Pacific Crest Trail rerouted a couple miles to the east. Although I started on the PCT to avoid some very wet brush I was quickly on the abandoned trail that was, quite honestly, better than a lot of trails I follow. It was certainly easier to follow than the it's-not-a-trail-it's-a-route types of trips we do.

Even though it's abandoned, the lower section gets a fair amount of use to get up to Red Mountain where the scrambling is deliciously sketchy. I continued beyond that and the trail got positively primitive. From scramble trail to abandoned trail to climber's trail it faded away into the blueberries.

It's too bad the trail gets no attention because it has some spectacular views. (Or so I would guess given it was clouded in most of the day.) Certainly it's got one of the steepest trails I've ever seen, dropping off into the Middle Fork valley in a set of switchbacks that gave me vertigo.

All day I'd seen exactly two people. Not bad for a hike so near to a super popular trailhead and a paved parking lot. Hopefully, more people will discover this and other abandoned trails and help spread the love. It'll bring trails like this back to life and extend the lives of the well-known trails.

And that's ok even if it was nice to have a day in the mountains all to myself.