Sunday, March 27, 2011

Boulder River Trail

Today’s choice for hikes was a good one!  It was supposed to rain, but there was just some intermittent sprinkling.  With the trees overhead, not much came through when it did rain, and at times the sun came out and lit the forest up.  The trail started out on an old logging road according to the write-up on the Washington Trails Association, although it is so overgrown and eroded, it was hard to imagine any logging trucks going anywhere past the parking area.  When I got there, there was only 1 car in the lot.  It was nice to not have to share the trail with too many people.
The first fun bit was a log going over the trail at a level you had to walk under it, in the bed of a little stream.  The water gurgled down the steep embankment and also followed the log, dripping and drizzling off all down it, so you had to walk under a curtain of tiny waterfall to continue up the path.  Adventure Dog was not thrilled. 
As the trail went on I could hear and sometimes see the Boulder River below…sometimes furiously tumbling in its bed, sometimes peacefully idling past dark wet rock cliff rock.   Then, pouring into the river from high high above, a narrow waterfall, cascading through the air and down the cliff to join the river.  It was lovely.
Not much further and there was breathtaking double falls.  These were larger and roared over the precipice above, crashing into the river at my feet.  I took a lot of pictures, but many blurred since Cedar was tugging impatiently on his leash. 

There were some massive old trees scattered amongst the other trees.  I tried to imagine what it must be like to have lived most of a millenia in that beautiful ravine. 

Then there was a 3rd waterfall.  I think that makes this the hike the winner for me for Most Waterfalls.

I had read in the latest trip report that one person this month had been unable to complete this hike due to “big trees” being down.  Big was an understatement.  I couldn’t tell whether one old growth cedar had already been down when the other one crashed onto it, or if those two grand old sisters had come down together, but the trail disappeared at a huge root ball section, and huge segments of ancient tree lay broken in all directions against the slope.   They were incredibly huge and stretched way up and down the slope.  It took a lot of scrambling and surveying where it was possible to get between the trunk pieces, for they were too big to just climb over, especially at that angle.  There were a lot of trees down on the trail, and there usually are a few on most trails, but I have never seen old growth down.  A little further and there was a massive old fir across the trail as well.  I had to take the leash off of Cedar because different paths worked better for each of us and there were too many things for his leash to tangle in.  The only reason I had put it on really was because I thought I saw a couger footprint. 
The above really can't show the magnitude of those trees.  This is where the trail abruptly ends at a piece of rootball.  It was well over my head.
The trail went on and on, through quiet misty woods, the only sounds were birds singing and the varying music of the river. 



There were some patches of snow and some pretty muddy areas as well.  By the time the hike was over, I probably looked pretty scary with moss and bark in my hair from going over and under downed trees, and mud up to my knees.  I didn’t really remember I had packed my new gaiters until I was past the mud again.  : )  I’ll have to try them out another time.
I only saw one couple all the way in on the trail, as they were coming out after camping for the night.  I passed many hikers on my way back out though, and found the parking area full and cars parked all down the dirt road. 


Sunday, March 20, 2011

Spring is Here! - Lime Kiln Trail (yes, again!)

This was my 3rd time hiking the Lime Kiln Trail, and this time Justus came along.  It was fun to have him on the hike and definitely led to different photo ops, like the ZZ Top style moss beard.

At the lime kiln we did some looking around.  I still think it's pretty cool that the moss and leaves have reclaimed it so much in 100 years that it's difficult to see until you are right on it. 


I also thought this spiderweb looked cool shining in the sun.
One of the coolest things about today's hike though was it was warm out!  It was in the 50's and the sun shone through the trees.  Birds were singing like they were twitterpated and leaf buds were unfurling everywhere.  Skunk cabbages were rising up from the mud in bloom before their great leaves even opened up and the garter snakes had come out of hibernation! 


Cedar says, "Happy Spring!"

Sunday, March 13, 2011

Rattlesnake Ledge - North Bend

This day wins the Worst Weather I've Hiked In award.  I have hiked in rain, snow, mud, ice and wind, but the rain today was lashing down miserably, the wind shook it off the trees and pushed us around at the top a little and by the time the relatively short (4 mi roundtrip) hike was over, I was drenched.  This is the 1st time I have raided my pack for the spare dry hat and fleece I keep lugging with me.  Would I do it again if I started the day over though?  Absolutely.  : )
The trail starts out at Rattlesnake Lake.  The parking is abundant and the lake is large and beautiful.  Two very excited labs (do they come any other way?) were retrieving in it. 
From there the trail just winds up switchbacks for almost 2 miles, at a gain of 1900 feet to the top of this huge rock face.  If it hadn't been cloudy, foggy, rainy and windy the views would have been phenomenal.  With all those things considered, it was a little gloomy, eerie and magnificent anyway.  I don't know why, but I do love viewing things shrouded in mist.  It must be the Northwest mold in my veins or the moss in my head or something.

Adventure Dog enjoyed it too.  He taunted me by taking in the views himself and  then trying to duck out of the picture when I tried to photograph him with the panoramic backdrop.

Wednesday, March 9, 2011

Around the Sound 2

Midweek, and here are some pictures I've clicked in the last couple weeks.  Some of these were taken with my camera, and some were my iPhone.
To start out with, I had taken the ferry over to visit my Mom a couple weeks ago and it was really windy, whipping the sea into white caps.  I don't see that very often.


Mount Baker from the Edmonds Ferry:

At the end of the day, at my Mom's cabin I was treated to a lovely sunset against Mt Rainier:

This eagle is a regular visitor at the Edmonds Offleash Dog Park:

Here is a spunky Polish rooster I saw at the Bothell Country Village:

And I totally love this view of the Space Needle.  I had actually made a wrong turn, so it was an unplanned visit to Seattle.  Then, stuck at a red light, I saw the Needle peeking over these buildings against the blue sky:

Sunday, March 6, 2011

Oyster Dome Revisited

Sorry for the repeat, but I’m sure that will be resolved when the hills thaw out.  This time going up Oyster Dome there was none of the blustery wind that beset us last time.  There were a few clouds and some foggy patches, so I didn’t get the sunny view of both the San Juan Islands and the Olympic Mountains I was hoping for, but the islands were (mostly) visible.

Cedar and I went up with our friends Dan and Clark Kent and we were surprised to find that most of the trail higher up and the top of the dome was pretty snowed in still.  It was mushy and muddy in spots, but not a problem.  It also made coming down pretty fast and fun in a few spots where I could just get some momentum and slide a little ways. 
There were a LOT of hikers on the trail, both two- and four-footed, all friendly and happy to be outside enjoying a non-rainy day in the Northwest. I was pleased to see one guy hiking with a tiny yorkie… the little guy was doing great and glad to be out being a dog instead of packed around the mall in a purse. 
On the way back down the soaring eagles were joined by a paraglider kind of thingy.  The guy was just kicked back in a little seat hanging from under the big kite-like wing, soaring in circles against the blue sky.  Looked like fun, but not for me.... I like my feet on the ground.  : )