Hiking, 2024

 

 

Yesler Swamp, UW Horticultural Center

Someone asked me if Bob and I were still hiking since I had not been putting up many hiking posts on the blog this year.  The answer is, yes, we are.  We have had to adjust our scale of difficulty, that is, how far we can go, what sort of elevation gain we could reasonably expect to do, how hot weather might determine destinations, how fast or slow we might be depending on the trail conditions, etc.  Rocks and roots as well as lots of stairs are more arduous for us now.  Bob signs his hiking email reports to friends and family as “80+ hikers”.  We are thankful we can still get out, walk in forests and on beaches, enjoy clean air, salt air, see waterfalls, rivers, flowers, huge trees, animals and birds.  We have included some public gardens too.  What was once our “easy” hike is more likely to be a moderate or sometimes even a difficult hike. 

 

Here is a list of the hikes we have done so far this year:

 

1.      Starting easy the end of March, Oxbow Loop, Snoqualmie Pass, 2.3 miles RT, 80 ft (elevation) gain

 

 

Oxbow Loop, about midway, from the bridge

 

 

2.     April

 

 

Tulip Town

 

a.     the Tulip Town fields, Mt. Vernon, no gain

b.     and Kruckenberg garden, Shoreline, .5 mile, no gain

c.     Washington Park, Anacortes, 2 miles, 200 ft elevation gain

d.     Yesler Swamp, UW Horticultural Center, loop, Seattle, .7 miles, no gain

e.     Old Sauk, North Cascades, 3.5 miles, 100 ft. gain

f.      UW Arboretum Japanese Garden, Seattle, .5 miles, 10 ft gain

3.  May

 

 

 Ruby Beach, Pacific Ocean

 

a.     Goose Rock, Deception State Park, 1.8 miles, 300 ft gain

b.     Meerkerk Garden, Whidbey Island, 1 mile, 50 ft. gain

c.     Franklin Falls & Snoqualmie Falls, Snoqualmie Pass, 2.9 miles, 400 ft gain

d.     Barclay Lake, Stevens Pass, 4 miles, 400 ft gain

e.     Highline Botanical Garden, Highline, no gain

f.      Iron Goat, Stevens Pass, 5.7 miles, 350 gain

g.     Pacific Ocean, Ruby Beach, First Beach, Hoh Rain Forest, 2 miles, 50 gain

4.  

June

 

Trout Lake

 

a.     Edmonds Marsh, Edmonds, .5 miles, no gain

b.     Woodland Park Rose Garden, Seattle, no gain

c.     Yellowstone, Firehole, .5 miles, no gain

d.     Yellowstone, Grand Prismatic, 1 mile, 50 ft gain

e.     Yellowstone, Old Faithful, 1 mile, no gain

f.      Yellowstone, Norris Geyser Basin, 1.2 miles, 200 ft gain

g.     Trout Lake, Stevens Pass, 4 miles, 600 ft gain

5.    

 July

 

 

 

Naches Loop

 

a.     Pacific Crest Trail, Stevens Pass, 3.7 miles, 800 ft gain

b.     Rosario, Deception Pass State Park, 3.2 miles, 250 ft gain

c.     Ft. Flagler, Olympic Peninsula, 4 miles, 200 ft gain

d.     Naches Loop, Chinook Pass, 4 miles, 600 ft gain3.

6.

August 

 

 Greenwater Lakes

 

a.     Middle Fork Snoqualmie, Snoqualmie Pass, 3.2 miles, 250 ft gain

b.     Greenwater Lakes, South Cascades, 5 miles, 500 ft gain

 

As can be seen, many of these are repeats from prior years.  Bob has reserved a day for us at Mt Rainier next week.