These were a pair of gentle walks by the seashore in Whatcom County, not far from the Canadian border. We began with a 3-mile walk exploring Semiahmoo Spit, a narrow strip of land between Drayton Harbor and Semiahmoo Bay, near the town of Blaine. We learned some of the local history by stopping in at a museum dedicated to the salmon canning industry that once thrived here for over 80 years. Next we checked out the nice trail at the Point Whitehorn Nature Preserve, passing through 3/4 mile of lush forest before emerging at the beach facing the Strait of Georgia. Weather had been steadily improving all day, so we had plenty of blue skies and nice views of the San Juans and Vancouver Island.

This was a bike ride on a nice paved path from Tukwila down past Auburn, following the twists and turns of the Green River much of the way. The trail passes through busy suburbs, but does so in a way that keeps you off of highways and multi-lane streets. There are numerous bridges and underpasses that make for easy, scenic riding, and even some open spaces that give a feeling of remoteness. People rode anywhere from 17 to 25 miles in total, and we managed to get lucky with the weather, with only a couple of brief showers interrupting an otherwise dry and partly sunny day.

This state park near Port Townsend is not well-known, but has a wonderful system of forest trails that offer a peaceful and uncrowded escape. There are no grand "oh wow" viewpoints here, just some well-maintained trails that let you get some good exercise without being overly challenging. We hiked around 4.5 miles, managed to escape the showery weather, and even finished ahead of schedule, allowing us to add on a second short hike to the nearby Tamanowas Rock. The rock is a massive 200-foot-high cliff hidden in the forest with some impressive overhanging faces.

This was a trip out past North Bend where we sampled three nice forest trails in the valley of the Middle Fork Snoqualmie River. These were all nicely maintained trails that were relatively easy, and we got plenty of green scenery in the lush forests. We started with the Oxbow Loop, a 1.8-mile route with nice overlooks of a wetland area, then did a portion of the CCC Trail, some of which follows an old road bed laid out back in the 1930's. With finished with a short out-and-back on the main Middle Fork Trail, highlighted by the riverside views of the rugged mountain walls that flank the valley. The forecasted rain seemed to fizzle out fairly early, so it was a comfortable (though chilly) day on which we covered around 5 miles total.

We had a blue sky day in Skagit County as we did about 4 miles of walking at two scenic areas near LaConner. The first stop was the Padilla Bay Shore Trail, a nice dike-top trail lying between the tidal flats of the bay and the fertile farmlands of Skagit Valley. Then it was on to the Kukutali Preserve, a unique property that's co-managed by Washington State Parks and the Swinomish Tribe. The preserve features trails that lead to a point of land that juts out into the bay within sight of the Deception Pass Bridge. This was a one-time native village where they would weave mats out of cat-tails that grew along the bay. After our walks, we stopped in LaConner at Calico Cupboard for a tasty lunch before heading for home.

It was a 5-star bluebird day for a high country hike in the Blewtt Pass-Teanaway region. Wildflowers were out in abundance, views extended to the distant horizons, and the trail was in great shape with no snow, even at 5500 feet. We hiked from the Iron Creek Trailhead off Highway 97, climbing to a pass on Teanway Ridge after about 2 miles. Continuing upward, we topped out on two separate peaks roughly 5500 feet high, Iron-Bear Peak and Jester Peak. This trail barely escaped the spread of last year's Labor Mountain Fire that burned over 38,000 acres. Our hike wound up totaling about 7 miles and 2000 feet of elevation gain.

This is a pleasant forest trail near Darrington that lies above the north bank of the White Chuck River. It's somewhat of an overlooked trail, making it a good choice on a holiday weekend when many other trails are busy busy busy. The attractions here are the springtime wildflowers, the occasional mountain views, the gorgeous mossy forest, and the lack of crowds. We had comfortable temperatures and plenty of sunshine, and made a round trip of about 5 miles on the day. After a post-hike stop at Moe's in Darrington, we had a little extra time, and stopped to see the view the impressive Oso Slide Memorial along Highway 530.

Because of the enthusiastic demand, I led two seperate trips to Lopez Island this week. We ferried from Anacortes, arriving on Lopez in the late morning. There were three short hikes undertaken, at Iceberg Point, Shark Reef Park, and Spencer Spit, followed by a superb dinner at the Islander Resort. Highlights of our trips included lots of great scenery, some outstanding wildflowers (particularly Iceberg Point), a handful of sightings of wildlife, and some fun beach combing. Both group hiked around 4-5 miles, and although it was a bit of a long day(s), it was filled with first-rate natural wonders.

Who would have known that Chilliwack, BC has one of the nicest multi-use trails that I've ever seen. The 20.9km (13 mile) Vedder Rotary Loop Trail is an excellent unpaved path that mostly hugs the banks of the Vedder River, with connecting bridges on each end that make it a nice moderate-length loop. Even on this chilly, overcast, showery day, plenty of people were out enjoying the trail, and a campground alongside the trail was full and busy with activity. The scenery was muted a bit by the overcast weather, but views of the river and close-by foothills were still nice. After we all made the loop, returning to Vedder Park, we pondered riding a bit more, but the on-and-off showers were a concern, so we called it a day.

This was a day of superlatives in Vancouver, BC. We traveled to a city park often considered among the world's best, right up there with parks in Barcelona, Munich, Sydney, and New York City. Stanley Park attracts an estimated 8 million visitors a year to experience it's many charms. Our main goal in the park was to walk the famed Seawall Trail around the park's perimeter, which gave us a great 6-mile loop packed with great scenery, history, and ...sunshine! It couldn't have been a nicer day to explore the park. We saw the First Nations Totem Poles, the Vancouver skyline across the harbor, the towering Lions Gate Bridge, Third Beach sunbathers, and the spectacular colors of the Greig Rhododendron Gardens. After the walk, we headed to the world record holder for most ice cream flavors, the unique La Casa Gelato and it's 238 varieties of gelatos, sorbettos, and frozen yogurts.

This trail, about 10 miles outside Leavenworth in the Icicle Creek Valley, is adefinite 5-star hike for flowers and views when you go on a beautiful spring day like we had today. The trail climbs steadily up the long hillside for over 4500 feet of elevation gain. We didn't go quite that far, but we went plenty far enough to get some great views and a fantastic flower show. Surprisingly, this is not a busy trail, as we ran into fewer than 10 people on this sunny Saturday. Stars of the flower show were the brilliant yellow balsamroots, the lovely purple lupines, and the rare Tweedys Lewisia, which is only found in a few areas of the eastern Cascades. As for views, we saw many tall peaks still wearing their snowy coatings, including Mt. Stuart and the Stuart Range.

This is a relatively little-known area of trails just three miles outside Leavenworth, located on property owned by the Chelan Douglas Land Trust. There are about 4 or 5 miles of trails there, located on former timber lands that offer some pleasant walking on old roads and more newly-constructed trails. The wildflowers are wonderful in spring, and there are some excellent vistas from numerous sites along the way. We hiked around the property there for about 3 hours or so under brilliant blue skies, then retreated back to Leavenworth for a short stroll along the riverfront trails, making our way into the downtown area for post-trip treats.