Evans Creek Preserve

Evans Creek Preserve - March 9th, 2014

Mileage: Various
Elevation Gain: Negligible
Off Hwy 202 in Redmond
Dog Friendly
Difficulty: Very Easy

After we finished Cedar Butte a few of us still wanted to be hiking. So we went to Evans Creek to walk around. This is a very pretty little park. We did a circuit of the outside, which was about 1.5-2 miles. The trails were in very good condition and they have some very nice little boardwalks and bridges through the wetlands. There's apparently a pretty big bridge that spans the majority of the wetlands, but somehow we missed the turn to go see it and were pretty ready to go home afterward so we didn't go back.

This is definitely not a spend all day walking around type park (like Discovery, Tiger Mountain, Soaring Eagle or Cougar Mountain would all be better choices for something like that). It definitely would be a great place to go for a picnic and a stroll. My favorite part of this park is that there are little gnome statues all over the place. We found one that had a note attached to it that read something like this:

Hello! You've found [insert cute gnome-name] of Evans Creek. You'll now receive 999 wishes! But you have to put me in a new secret hiding place. 

So, that was pretty adorable, and we did in fact re-hide him. One of the group took a picture, but I don't have copies. Just imagine a gnome. Good. Is he really cute and about 3 inches high? Perfect.

The rest of the hike was pretty uneventful. There were some wetlands, a really pretty meadow and nice mossy tree areas (my favorite). The trails themselves are pretty flat and very well maintained. We saw a couple pushing a stroller along them, and it wasn't one of those crazy off-road strollers, so that gives you an idea about how nice they were. 

Cedar Butte

At the Trail Head

Cedar Butte - March 9th, 2014
Mileage: 3-4 miles
Elevation Gain: 900 feet
Olallie State Park: I-90 Corridor
Dog Friendly
Difficulty: Easy

A little over a month ago I decided I was going to try and get some of my other friends to go hiking with Katie, Chris and I. In an effort to facilitate that, and also to get some of them in shape for an upcoming trip to the Hoh Rain Forest, I created a hiking group called: Allison Pushes People Up Mountains. Now that we've completed our first hike I am almost concerned at how appropriate that name is.

Katie Admiring Rattlesnake

WATER!

I forget that not everybody likes being outside and in nature. The first hike we chose, to my mind, was easy-peasy, even with it being the first official hike. The undergrowth was beautiful and even though the views weren't as awe-inspiring as some of the other hikes I've done I thought it was a good start. I don't think everybody enjoyed it as much as I would have liked, but I definitely converted at least one friend. So I'm chalking that up as a win.

Cedar Butte is basically across the street (literally) from Rattlesnake Ledge. Which is kind of awesome because you drive past Rattlesnake's parking lot and see the 10 billion cars in the parking lot and then you go into the Cedar Falls trailhead and there is nobody. Maybe 4 cars. I'm sure this changes once summer is in full swing but at this point in the season it's pretty solitary. We saw 4 people on the trail total.

One thing I really appreciated about Cedar Butte is you get a warm up. So many times I get out of 1+ hour car ride and then have to go straight up a hill. That is totally mean. I always wish they would move the trailhead like a half mile further away on flat ground so my legs can get warm. For this hike you walk in along, what I'm guessing, is a service road. Even though it definitely doesn't quite feel like you're in nature yet, it's still pretty. There's some swampy marshland and a couple of small creeks.

I'm OUTSIDE!

After the easy walk in you start ascending the mountain. I really enjoyed how misty this hike was. That kind of weather really suits the mossy undergrowth that you see around North Bend at lower elevations. The grade isn't terribly steep but it is pretty consistently up. Occasionally it flattened out for a bit but not often. When you consider you're gaining about 900 feet in about 1.25 miles it's really very reasonable.

Mediocre views!! And so much more!

The views were not incredible once we got to the top. There's a clear view of the valley below but it's still just looking down on North Bend... As much as I love walking in the mist, I kept hoping it was going to clear by the time we got to the summit. If it had been clearer I know you can see Si, Teneriffe and some other surrounding mountains, but the weather was not cooperative.

All in all I think this is a very decent season opener and a very nice beginner hike.

Guest Post: Chris hikes in Discovery Park cause the Mountains are covered in Angel poops.

Discovery park is a very unique place.  There are very few city parks in the country where you can be in the city one minute and then be transferred to a completely remote, incredibly naturally diverse setting in literally about the time it took me to write this line.  This is the magic of discovery park.  Located on the property of a former US Army base, Fort Lawton, Discovery park at 534 acres is the largest city park in Seattle.  It is located on the Puget sound in the neighborhood of Magnolia and is easily reached in 20 minutes or less from about any location in the city.  The park offers expansive views of the Puget Sound from atop high cliffs overlooking the water, an incredible view of Mt. Rainier (on the five days of the year it is clear enough to actually see that far), hikes through fern laden forests and access to several miles of Puget Sound sea shore.

Katie, Amber and Eric were fortunate enough to accompany me on this trip to the park.  It was a perfectly nasty, cold and rainy Pacific Northwest day, but that didn't stop us from going and in my mind only served to increase the neat atmosphere of this park.   Katie and I have spent lots of time in Discovery park but Amber hadn't been there for years and Eric, who is new to the area, had never been.

We started at the main visitor center, then after getting lost because of my flawless sense of direction and orienteering training through BSA, we finally made our way out to the cliffs overlooking the Puget Sound where we were luck enough to capture Epic Eric epicly surveying the landscape.  

After seeing a couple of people who we though were our friends Kevin and Jamie, but turned out to not even be the same nationality once we got closer, we made our way down to the beach and the lighthouse (photo: David Unger, 2006).  Unfortunately because of the weather, we weren't able to see the great view of Rainier.  Here is what it would have looked like.  

After the lighthouse the friends went exploring tide pools and messing with sea anemones, we hopped back into the forest and began the ascent back up to the upper part of the trail.  We also during the beach part of the hike were able to see several seadog saltwater merpeople (Sea Lions) playing around in the water.  I don't know about everyone else, but for me, it is always a treat to see large animals of any kind in the wild instead of captivity.  After much huffing and puffing we finally got to the upper trail and had a relatively flat hike for the last mile.  We hiked the loop trail (3.5 miles).  Our total mileage, because of getting lost and exploring, was closer to 4 miles.  For anyone who is interested, there are another four miles of trails besides the loop trail in the interior of the park.  If you have some time to kill in Seattle and want to get into nature fast I would highly recommend you checking out Discovery Park. 

Twin Falls

Twin Falls - January 12th(ish), 2014
Mileage: 3 miles
Elevation Gain: 500 feet
Olallie State Park: I-90 Corridor
Dog Friendly
Difficulty: Very Easy

So this post is going to visually look a little confusing, because in some of these pictures you'll notice it's gray and rainy and in some of them it's sunny and beautiful. That's because when we hiked in January it was raining enough that we didn't use our cameras very much at all. Most of the pictures are from when Chris and I hiked this back in October of... 2012 maybe? Eesh.

The pictures from our hike in January were taken by our friend Eric (pictured above far left). So thanks to Eric for covering our lazy butts. So! On to info about the hike...

So Twin falls is a super easy, very pretty day hike just outside of North Bend. It's one of the few hikes available outside of the Issaquah Alps in the cascades that's pretty much open year round. The amount of pay off for the amount of work is also pretty great. It's really pretty throughout the hike, and the trail itself is in very good condition.

The trail itself starts off at a very, very easy grade going along the river. Great opportunities for photography. The whole area is very damp. The North Bend area actually gets a lot more rain than Seattle, so it's often very damp out here. Despite that the trail had minimal water on it, even considering it was raining when we were there last.

I always tell people when they go hiking in the pacific northwest they should always carry at least one compass. Not only is that just very good advice in general, but especially in the North West you are pretty much up shit creek if you get lost and don't have a way to tell what direction you should be going. Depending on the time of year (read: most of the year) you might have no visibility from the sun in order to get your bearings. As for that who "moss grows on the south side" business, anybody who has been in the Central/North Cascades, and definitely on the Peninsula can tell you that moss just grows everywhere. You would hardly ever be able to use this trick effectively.

Anyway, after a while you leave the river, but it's always close, and you start climbing some small hills. There are a couple of really nice vistas from the tops of some of these. After a while though you'll come to a point where the trail splits. Go to the right first. This will lead you down some steps (try not to think about having to walk back up them) and on to a very pretty viewing platform which let's you look at the bottom of the bottom most falls (very top photo). The view from the plat form is very nice. Now go back up those steps!

Very shortly after you rejoin the main trail you'll come to a very nice bridge that spans the canyon and offers you some very nice views of the river canyon and the falls themselves. You have the option to continue up the trail from the bridge. The first time we hiked it Chris and I went on for about 1/2 an hour after the bridge, but didn't really see anything worth continuing on for. Nice, short hike, good for beginners, with very decent payoff.

View from bridge looking up the canyon toward the falls

View from bridge looking down the canyon

WTA Listing

Mt. Rainer - Sunrise Visitor Center

Rainier

Mt. Rainier, Sunrise Visitor Center - 2nd week of September 2013
Mileage: Various
Elevation Gain: Various
Mt. Rainier Nat'l park
NOT Dog Friendly
Difficulty: Various

So, you've got family in town. You've done the obligatory trip to the market, maybe you were lucky enough to talk them out of a $20 elevator ride in the Space Needle. You've gone to the Zoo, the SAM, Boeing's Future of Flight tour (not to be missed by the way) and viewed downtown from Gasworks park. What the fuck do we do now?

Left to Right: My Mom, Chris, Me, Chris' Mom

Get in the car and drive for 2 hours and go to Sunrise Visitor Center. The drive out is actually fairly pleasant especially once you pass Enumclaw. On the way out of town be sure to take note of the miniature castle on the left. It's the most bad ass church playground in history.

Shadow lake seen from the trail to Frozen Lake

After Enumclaw it's pretty gorgeous. Initially it's pastureland with lovely views of Mt. Rainier all dressed in white. As you're going through the more forested areas be sure and stop at the vista point to stretch you legs. You can get a pretty photo of Rainier framed with trees Once you enter the park the views get more spectacular. The viewing area below the lodge has a some amazing vistas. Including a very pretty view of Sunrise lake framed by the surrounding peaks. Nice place to for a family photo-op.

Then you're at Sunrise Visitor Center. It's bloody gorgeous. the thing you have to remember about visiting Rainier is that you actually get to the mountain itself. you're on surrounding mountains. Which makes sense since it's hard to see a mountain you're standing on. Some how prior to going there I had never made that connection which made me feel like a huge doofus.

We decided we were going to Frozen Lake. I won't spend too much time describing it since it wasn't too impressive. I'm guessing it's more picturesque earlier in the summer when there's more snow. The walk to Frozen lake is quite pretty, Rainier of course looms over you but some of the other views are pretty stunning, including a peek at Shadow lake

If the folks you've brought aren't terribly athletic, or you've already worn them to a frazzle. They can enjoy the views from a lodge. In late September though, the lodge is only half open.

Everybody who is fair should also take note that if the weather is bright and sunny you should be layering your sunscreen, cause you're going to buuuurn.

Overall, I think Sunrise was gorgeous and I wish I would have had more time to check out some of the other day hike trails.

Chris and I heading up the hill from Sunrise

View just outside of Enumclaw

Chris' Mom looking out over the valley behind the ridge above Sunrise

Tonga Ridge

Pyracantha (I think)

Tonga Ridge - 1st week of September

6 miles
Elevation Gain: 1200 feet
Mt. Baker Snoqualmie National Forrest
Dog Friendly
Difficulty: Easy

My Mom, and later Chris' Mom and Step-Dad, visited us back in September and we took them on a few hikes. We mostly hiked with my Mom since she was here a bit longer. Our first stop was Tonga Ridge. 

Patriot Blueberry

Chris and I had been wanting to do this hike for a while. The hike starts out at a very high elevation, even though the elevation gain is 1200 ft, the highest point you reach is 5501 ft, so there isn't a lot of uphill, but you still get great payoff. Supposedly there are amazing 360 panoramas of the surrounding mountains as you walk along the ridge line. Since my Mom doesn't do a lot of hiking we figured that it would be a very good fit.

The weather had been lousy but was supposed to clear up that day. Which, in all fairness it did... right as we left. We got pretty soggy. That being said, it was still a lovely hike even if we didn't have the stunning alpine views I really wanted to share with my mom. 

Boletus Edulis

The hike itself starts off with a bit of a climb, but then it levels off nicely. You alternate between walking through forest and alpine meadows. Even with the lousy weather, sometimes because of it (above), we got some pretty lovely photos. I wish my camera was good enough to really capture the way the mist looked in those trees. 

Amanita Muscaria

We also saw a lot of incredible flora and fungi. Including a near perfect amanita muscaria (poisonous), otherwise known as the most stereotypical mushroom ever. There was also an ENORMOUS boletus edulis (edible). Seriously that SOB was huge, I should have photographed something next to it for scale. We ate several varietals of blue berries, including Patriot blueberries, which I think are very striking. We obviously did not eat these red berries, which I think are pyracantha but I'm not 100% sure. 

The real highlight of the day actually came as we were leaving. There's this beautiful rail bridge, and as we were standing there taking pictures a train passed!! Very cool, I got some pictures of the train, but I don't want to overload a hiking blog with train pictures. 

Overall, even with the weather it was a good hike. Misty and beautiful, Chris and I definitely plan on going back when the weather is more accommodating. Although be warned, according to several trail reviews and trail books I've read this trail can get pretty crowded.

For directions, additional trail reports and other details go here.

Brief Update Before Post Hurricane!!

Hello again! It's been a while since I put up some hikes or anything else for that matter. Everyday at 2 pm, my reminder to do blog posts comes up and I look away shamefacedly. You ever have that experience where you're hanging out with a friend you haven't seen in years and have absolutely no idea what to say when they ask "What have you been up to?" Obviously you've been up to tons of shit, but there's so much shit that you've been up to it's easier to just say "Not much." That's sort of how blogging gets. You miss one week, no big deal. You miss several months and then it's just too much to try to explain. So I'm not going to try. 

What I am going to do is try and restart. I will post a couple of hikes we've done over the past couple months. Play a little catch-up basically. Then my hope is over the next couple weeks to talk about winter hikes and what we're doing to stay fit in the off season. Enjoy!