We had another successful trip to Woodland Park Zoo in Seattle to view the Wild Laterns holiday displays. It started with an afternoon walk around Green Lake that even included some sunshine and temperatures in the mid-50's. Is this December? We followed up the walk with dinner at Zeek's Pizza, then spent a couple hours at the zoo. A fun time was had by all, and we got 4 or 5 miles of walking done in the process.

Snoqualmie Pass received about 15 inches of rain during the atmosheric river event, which meant "bye-bye snow" and no chance of doing the scheduled snowshoe trip to Twin Lakes. But we did get a brilliant sunny day and headed towards Snoqualmie anyway to just get out and have an adventure. We did a short hike on the Pacific Crest Trail south of the pass, going up through the SNOW-FREE ski area, enjoying some nice views of the peaks around the pass, and visiting a small lake. In addition to that little hike, we stopped at Snoqualmie Falls (not as much flow as 2 days prior, but still impressive), and also drove by North Bend's Meadowbrook Farm to search for the elk herds that reside there. We also took a short drive up the scenic Middle Fork Road, and tried to drive to the Twin Lake Trailhead, getting stopped a mile short by a minor road washout. All in all a fun day in the sun, and good to get out and set the aftermath of the storms.

We caught a nice dry spell in the middle of our record atmosheric river event, and had a fun time in Seattle enjoying the holiday displays at Woodland Park Zoo. We started with a brisk walk around Green Lake, which was perfect for working up an appetite for the feast afterwards at Zeek's Pizza. From there we headed for the zoo and the unique Wild Lanterns displays. Highlights included "The Mountain Is Out", the moose and mountain goat displays, the different wildflower displays, and an acrobatics show. On top of all that, no traffic delays--outstanding!

We had challlenging weather conditions at Stevens Pass, and the snow wasn't nearly as deep as it would typically be by now, but we still managed to get out for 3 hours on the snowshoes. The Pacific Crest Trail leads out gently from the ski area lots on the north side of Highway 2, making for a relatively easy ramble on the snow. There was never more than about a foot of snow, and the trail was packed down to just a few inches, but it didn't prevent us from going about 3 miles in total. We began in a heavy snowfall, which gradually tapered to a steady light rain, and although not quite ideal, it was better than we had expected, and the scenery was nice throughout.

This is a relatively little-known falls tucked away in the foothills north of Monroe, not far from Lake Roesiger. The land here is open to the public, on state of Washington Department of Natural Resources (DNR) property, and there are gated logging roads that can be walked for about 2.6 miles to reach the falls. Most of the group was content stopping at the first view of the falls, but there were 4 "explorers" who made the tricky creek crossing that led to additional viewpoints. The weather was kind to us, with mild temps and no rain. It was nice to get out in the fresh air, and the falls were a good reward for our efforts.

This was a walk at one of our region's premier wildlife refuges, located at the Nisqually River estuary between Tacoma and Olympia. The refuge is a haven for birds and other wildlife, and we witnessed a lot of activity during our 4-mile stroll on the flat walking paths here. Birds are the major attraction here, and there are literally thousands to be seen, of all sorts of species. Highlights included sightings of bald eagles, herons, all kinds of ducks, and a hungry harbor seal in the Nisqually River who sloshed around a big salmon he was trying to eat. Our skies were gray, but the weather was dry and the wind was calm, making for reasonably pleasant December conditions.

This trip was advertised as "something in the Mt. Baker Highway area, whatever is the best option." So that's what I looked for. The snow pack in the Cascades has been rather slow in building so far, and in many areas, you can still drive fairly high before encountering snow. This was a good combination of factors for doing a trip to the Twin Lakes Road, which some may know as the access to Yellow Aster Butte and Winchester Mountain. We drove up to the Yellow Aster Trailhead, which was snow-free at 3700 feet, as began hiking the road from there. We soon encountered thin snow and ice, so we all donned our traction devices for the next mile or so. We climbed steadily to the Twin Lakes at 5200 feet elevation, where there was a foot or so of snow. Snowshoes came on for exploring around the lakes, which were beautiful on this high overcast day. It turned out being an excellent first foray into the snow for the season.

Just across the border in Canada, only a few minutes from Blaine (the Peace Arch crossing), you'll find a large regional park outside Langley, BC that offers great trails, nice facilities, interesting history, and a wonderful place to get out and enjoy nature in any season. Much of it was once farmland that goes back to pioneer days in the 1880's. The Metro Vancouver Parks District acquired it in 1973, and it's a very popular destination for walkers, runners, and equestrians. We walked a 5.5-mile loop around the trail system, with highlights including a historic farmhouse and schoolhouse, some nice forest sections of 130-year old trees, a large equestrian center, some wetland areas along the Campbell River, and a hippopotamus sighting.

We set out for Wenatchee in search of that elusive November sunshine. Alas, it was not to be found today, as a solid deck of clouds hung just above the city. Fortunately for us though, the clouds were just high enough to allow views from Saddle Rock, the distinctive double summit about 1000 feet above the edge of town. We got a nice workout climbing up the well-used trails of the Jacobsen Preserve, and the vistas from Saddle Rock were nice, even in the gloomy gray. We shortened the hike because of the thick cloud deck above, but that gave us time to head down to the Columbia River near the center of Wenatchee and take a stroll along the wonderful Apple Capital Riverwalk Trail, and make a stop at the Pybus Public Market.

The Larry Scott Trail is a 7.3 mile segment of the Olympic Discovery Trail that spans the peninsula from Puget Sound to the Pacific Ocean. We walked 6 miles near Port Townsend on this pleasant path, finishing on the waterfront near the Port Townsend marina. The weather was gray and blustery, but no rain. Lunch followed the walk, at the charming Bayview Restaurant. This trip also featured three ferries, as we made the loop route by taking the Edmonds-Kingston, the Port Townsend-Coupeville, and the Clinton-Mukilteo route.

We were granted a few hours of dry November weather for our trip to Moran State Park on Tuesday, and got to enjoy a 4-mile hike around Mountain Lake on the excellent forest trail. We also squeezed in a short hike to see a pair of scenic waterfalls, and stopped in Eastsound to check out the town there. Highlights of the day included some great views from the ferry in the morning, a lunch stop at the northern tip of Mountain Lake where we got to see schools of kokanee salmon, encounters along the trail with numerous centuries-old fir and cedar trees, and a few doses of sunshine and (partly) blue skies. 

This is arguably the best hike in the San Juan Islands-- a 7-mile loop in Moran State Park on an excellent series of connecting trails that takes one to a historic lookout tower on the highest point of Orcas Island. The weather was typical November, with misty rain and low clouds, but the scenery along the trail was rewarding enough, even if the views were somewhat lacking. The mushrooms, mosses, and old growth giant trees were impressive, and the view from Mount Constitution actually exceeded our expections. Most people drive the state park road up to the top of the mountain, so it was a good feeling of accomplishment to hike up there and back.