Vancouver, WA

It was a beautiful day, the sun was shining, “Layla”, Mistie, and I were heading out for our next “big adventure” the eastern part of the Burnt Bridge Creek Trail. Located south of Burton Road on 90th Avenue, which becomes 92nd Avenue just before the turnoff at 19th Circle. There is very little parking here, maybe enough for five or six cars. Our end destination, the playground, was at the beginning of this part of the trail, which was great since it served as a reminder of where we were going when we finished walking.

Shortly after getting on the trail there is a Y where you can go north toward Burton Road or west as far as Fruit Valley Road. We went west. The first thing we saw was the lazy, summery look of the creek; surrounded by last year’s ratty cattails. A few ducks were enjoying the unusually warm day, as were we.

On the wide, flat trail we became aware that it was actually getting hot. We pulled out the water bottles and took a nice cooling drink then continued our walk. I think we both started complaining about the heat about a third of the way into the trip We were stopping for water more frequently, until I mentioned to Layla that it might not be a good idea to drink too much water; it only took her a few seconds to get my meaning…we had seen no restrooms…and she quickly spit out the water she had been drinking. We had also not seen any benches or picnic tables, and no shade in sight.

When we reached the 87th Avenue overpass, we welcomed the shade as a long lost friend. While here, we were once again able to see the creek. It looked to be 1½ to two feet deep at this point with a small span of rapids just before it.

The nicest surprise on this part of the trip was a bridge that passed over the creek near some apartments just west of the overpass. There are actually small fish in this creek, hanging around in the rushing water under the bridge. Shortly after that Layla surprised a duck (or should I say he surprised her), which shot into the air over the trail.

We continued on, finding small two-foot deep patches of shade and little else. At this point I was hoping for a playground or place to sit at the other end of the trail but when we came around the last bend just before Andreson Road there was nothing exciting ahead. We decided to go back to the park at the beginning of the trail. The play equipment was just right for younger children, but very small; Layla loved it. Mistie was content to lie in what shade we could find until she saw another dog chasing a ball; she thought she should have been invited as well.

While I enjoyed the walk, I like a good amount of shade so this is not a part of the trail I will try again. We saw quite a few runners, people out on bikes, walking their dogs, or just enjoying the stroll. We met no elderly or young children on the eastern part of Burnt Bridge Creek Trail and I would not recommend taking them either because of the lack of benches, picnic tables and shade. Also, there were signs along the side reminding you to stay on the trail because it was a habitat area. I understand there are restrooms and picnic tables on the western side of Andreson near Fort Vancouver High School on 18th Street. There is also a parking area just west of the school.