Boulder River Falls

I have found my new favorite easy going hike. I have been here three times this May. Each time I have taken someone different. I love to show people the beauty of our state and this is a trail that young and old alike can hike. There are 4 waterfalls on this trail. If you hike the full length of the trail it would be nine miles round trip. If you want to make it easy for little ones you can hike to the first set of falls which is about 1.5 miles in so 3 miles round trip. The first hike up here I did with my 17 year old son. There were so many blow downs and the trees are old growth forest and boy were they ever big. Some of the blow downs we had to do some tricky hiking to get around. The trail was really muddy that day too. We decided to hike the whole length and boy were we pooped from climbing over and around all those blow downs that day. The next time I took my husband so he could trail run and a friend of his. Lucky us the Washington trail association crew had been out cutting down all the blown down trees away from the trail. My goodness what a difference it made with no climbing to do. We went to the end of the trail which ends at the boulder river with what looked like several camp sites next to the river. We were able to view all four of the waterfalls and enjoy the river once we got to the end of the trail. This trail used to be an access to Three Fingers but is now to primitive to use.

On my last visit in May to Boulder river I took my good friend Kristin and her two young daughters. I was so impressed with her little four year old. She trouped along the whole way with out any complaints. It was fun seeing the trail again through the eyes of the young ones. We took lots of pictures and went down a side trail to the first set of waterfalls. The girls had a great time throwing rocks and eating our snacks there. The weather held out for us too. I highly recommend this trail to anyone. Its very beautiful. I think I have a few more people in mind that would love to see this.

Robe Valley Trail

Today it is a gray cold day but I really wanted to get out and hike. My husband was looking for a place to trail run so we decided to try Robe Valley. It has always been a fairly easy hike with a big switchback on your way back at the end. There was only one other car when we arrived which turned out to be a big group of kids with dads ( nice job dad's!) We came across them on our way out. I have done this trail many times in the past and usually you can head out to the old railroad tunnels which you can walk under, although there is a warning at this end of the trail due to all the rock slides that have covered the trail. This time however there had been alot of flooding from the river. The trail was missing in some places and there was a very large area of marsh that had overflown on the trail. There was a log in the middle to get across. We went as far as the sign saying the trail is closed and came back. Well at least we got to get out a little today. The river was swollen full. I had never seen it that full and fast. On our way out to the car it started to drizzle. Just in time.

Heybrook Lookout

Hi everyone!

Today I hiked up to Heybrook Lookout. I only had a few hours to fit a hike in so this was the perfect place. It is fairly steep but definitely worth it. When we got pulled into the parking area there were about 4 other vehicles. We only ran into 2 couples on the way up. You gain about 850 ft in a little over a mile. Once you get to the lookout you have an amazing view. You can see Mount Baring, Mount Index, Bridal Veil Falls and the Skykomish river valley. There are 7 sets of stairs you climb once you get to the top of the look out. Its a great place for photos or lunch. Since we were making it a quick trip we just had a snack of granola bars at the top. The way down is so easy after your trip up. I ran most of the way but you have to be careful of roots and rocks. My husband is a trail runner. He was using the trail for training. He went up and back 3 times in our one trip up and back. It a great training trail for elevation. The hike is a little over two miles round trip. No snow on this trail today.

Wallace Falls/Lake

Our second hike this year and it looks like were headed into snow. I have been to Wallace Falls many times but this time we decided to take the Greg Ball trail up to Wallace Lake. We were surprised to find about 5 inches of snow on the ground at the trail head. The trail looked so beautiful, a winter wonderland. I was really glad I brought my poles as I didn't wear snow shoes or traction devices just my boots. We started out along the trail that runs along the river. After a mile or so we switched over to the rail road grade trail. This was a bit easier going in the snow. As we hiked it snowed harder, got deeper and deeper. What a work out lifting those legs high enough to drudge through the snow. For me its worth every second of hard work for all the beautiful scenery. We even saw a woodpecker with a red head! The trail was so heavy with snow that once we made it to the lake entrance we took some pictures had a snack and headed back so we wouldn't get too cold. For all of you that have not tried this hike in the snow you should. Can't wait for the next adventure!

Oyster Dome

First hike of the year! A beautiful day for February. Sunny, fairly cold but the best part is SUN! That means no rain,YES! The hike started off a trail head located off of Chuckanut drive. Switchbacks in a thick wooded area. As we head up the trail we come to some breaks in the trees where we get a lovely view of puget sound and the San Juan islands. Gorgeous! According to the reports I read we should be coming to a fork in the trail that will take us to the dome, bat caves or the other direction would go to the parking lot where you can see lots of people hang gliding. We ended up taking the wrong trail to the parking lot. Oh well there were great bathrooms there so we got to enjoy a small break and add an extra mile to our jaunt. We head back up the trail and realize its getting colder and fairly icy on the trail. We decide not to break off the trail to the bat caves ( I will save that for the next trip there ). The trail gets steeper and steeper with more and more people passing us. Maybe because it was my first hike since October but this trail seemed much steeper than I had anticipated. I am definately not cold anymore. We continue on as the ground starts to have a light dusting of snow with more ice. All the hikers heading down tell us how the view is going to be so worth the hike. Finally after 2 hours of hiking we make it up to our destination. A huge granite slab overlooking Puget Sound in all its splendor. We couldn't have asked for a better day to be at the top of the Oyster Dome. Lunch at the top couldn't have tasted any better than it did that day. After a few pictures and a tasty lunch we head back down the trail. Once at the bottom I had decided this hike was a bit harder than I had thought it would be ( I was glad of that). It was going to be added to one of my favorites. What a great way to start off my hiking season!