Deception Pass State Park, Whidbey Island, WA.

    Deception Pass State Park is located at the north end of Whidbey Island and the south end of Fidalgo Island, west of Seattle.  The park has amazing scenery focusing on beaches, the bridge, islands, and some old-growth forest.  I hiked the West Beach Trail and then did a long hike in the much less trafficked Hoypus Hill area.

University of Washington Botanic Gardens

After visiting the more natural, northern section of the UW Botanic Gardens at Union Bay I wanted to see what the rest of the gardens were like.  Located east of downtown, between Broadmoor and Montlake, the gardens can be accessed from numerous parking areas.  I enjoyed the diversity of trail types that ranged from mowed grass to dirt to paved.  Most of the park is free to access, but the Japanese Garden often charges a fee.  I wandered aimlessly through most of the main areas of the gardens and can't say that I had a favorite area, but I did prefer the smaller trails to the main Azalea Way trail that forms the backbone of the park.  The dirt trail behind the Japanese garden was quite overgrown, so much so I'm not sure it is an official trail.  One complaint I have about the park in general is that very few of the trees are labeled.  Why bother to organize the sections of the park by families of trees and shrubs if you aren't going to label them?

Green Lake, Seattle

Before arriving in Seattle for the summer, I already knew I wanted to visit Green Lake.  I'd read lots of great things about the park, including the fact that it had an off-leash area, while doing my housing search on Craigslist.  While I ended up living by magnificent Magnuson Park, I still harbored dreams of visiting Green Lake and jumping off the high dive.  My online research pointed out that Green Lake has lots of attractions including: the zoo, a paved 2.8 mile trail around the lake, boat/board rentals, swimming areas, a children's theater, assorted ball fields, and unpaved trails through a scenic wooded area.  The park has a few concession stands and there are lots of restaurants and cafes to choose from within a block or two of the park if you get hungry.

I finally made the journey with my friends on what ended up being a cool and windy summer day.  We parked near a swimming area, but were a little intimidated by the wind, so we decided to walk around the lake.  After awhile we came to second swim area and, not knowing when I'd be back, I decided I had to experience swimming in the lake and leaping off the high dive.  This ended up being a little scarier than I'd hoped, but I blame the wind for my nerves and few second hesitation at the end of the handrail.

After I swam, we continued our walk around the lake.  We saw a great blue heron, lots of ducks, a handful of turtles sunning on a log, and some Canada Geese.  We also witnessed for the first time the art/sport of freestyle frisbee.  After politely inquiring "what IS that?", we were treated to an explanation and free tutelage by none other than 2012 World Mixed Pairs Champion Mike Galloupe.

Following the freestyle frisbee fun, we finished walking the loop and stopped at Zeke's Pizza for some big slices and local beers.  

Living the Dream (Photo by Dr. Su 2013)

Union Bay Loop - Seattle

The Union Bay Natural Area is part of the UW Botanic Gardens.  The flat and well-maintained crushed gravel trail is about a mile long depending on where you start.  There are many short dirt spurs off of the main trail that lead to interesting ponds and wetlands.  The trail offers great views of the bay and the city, while the looming stadium nearby provides a unique contrast to the feeling of being surrounded by nature.  A section of the trail forms part of a popular bike shortcut for people commuting from the northeast to UW campus.

When I visited I saw lots of waterfowl and shorebirds.  The highlight was getting a close view of a Great Blue Heron, as these are typically spooked from a greater distance along the Buffalo River, where I usually encounter them.

North Cascades National Park and Ross Lake National Recreation Area

North Cascades National Park has an interesting layout, in that the main road through the park, Hwy. 20, is buffered by land designated National Recreation Area, while national park designated lands form the bread of the Ross Lake NRA sandwich.  This design allows for more uses in the most trafficked parts of the park.  On a recent visit I took advantage of these laxer regulations by bringing my dog along for a hike; something that is largely prohibited in most national parks.

This was my first time to the park, so I stopped at the visitor center, which is technically in the NRA.  I was tired of driving and Buddy was tired of riding, so we decided to do the multiple trails that connect the visitor center to the town of Newhalem.  These trails are well-labeled on the maps at the center, but they are not well-signed along the actual trails, so be prepared for some backtracking or extra wandering around if you aren't familiar with them.

Our hike started at the visitor center and went downhill to the River Loop Trail.  After visiting the river, we backtracked and took the To Know A Tree Trail to the Linking Trail to the Trail of the Cedars loop.  After exploring Newhalem, we walked back taking parts of the various trails we'd missed on the way out for a total hike length of about 5 miles.  The only major elevation change was the stretch between the visitor center and the River Loop Trail.  This could be completely avoided for an easy hike by starting at Newhalem or in the campsites and avoiding the visitor center spur.

The scenery here reminded my quite a bit of the rainforest in Olympic, with tall sword and bracken ferns under moss coated alders and evergreens.  I am positive I missed some incredible scenery just another 15 minutes up the road, but I plan on returning soon to try some hikes deeper in the park around Ross Lake and Lake Chelan.  Let me know if you have any suggestions!

Ode To Magnuson Park

I know I've been doing a lot of posts about non-Arkansas trails lately.  Given that:
1.  I'm in Seattle for the next two months
2.  I know most of the people who read this regularly
3.  I don't make any money off this site (so far; feel free to send $1,000 checks anytime)
and
4.  I use this site largely to practice writing and for motivation to explore new places and get exercise,
I will just write about all the awesome places I'm exploring in Washington for the summer.  If you don't like it, visit some of the older pieces on here, click one of the categories at the top, or leave an angry comment (but at least try to be funny).

Ok, here goes, Seattle is an amazing city to live in during its short summer.  They have great parks and trails in addition to the great food, breweries, dog-friendly restaurants, and the views of MULTIPLE incredible mountain ranges including the Cascades and Olympics.  On clear days, Mt. Rainier is stunning no matter how many times you've seen it.