Lord Hill Regional Park ~ March 25, 2014

I know I haven't been posting much lately. I'm in college full time as well as homeschooling my two boys so there hasn't been as much time for hiking lately. We did manage to get out once during my spring break. We went to one of my favorite local places, Lord Hill Regional Park. We originally decided not to go in the morning because it was pretty wet outside. Around noon, the weather was looking okay, so we changed our minds and decided to head out. It (of course) started raining on the way there and continued for the first 30 minutes of hiking. The trails were muddy, but we came prepared with boots and/or shoes that could get dirty. We only saw a couple of other people who ventured out in the rain on the trail that day.

You can see my son is somewhat drenched from the rain.

 We went up to the lookout off of the pipeline cutoff trail (my favorite lookout, and a great place to eat lunch). We stopped to have something to eat under some trees that were keeping us drier. After we'd been there for about 15 minutes, the rain stopped and some blue sky started peeking through the clouds!

The view from the lookout.

I loved the way the water on this lichen was catching the sun.

We even found a snake sunning himself along side the trail on the way back to the car.

We saw some  flowers, including skunk cabbage, announcing that spring had arrived.

Salmon berries are in bloom. 

Trillium was up and blooming as well. 

It was nice to be out and get some exercise and fresh air. The flowers and sunshine were a nice reward too!
I'm taking the summer off from school so I should have more time to hike and will try to blog the hikes that we do over the summer.

Happy Trail!

Lime Kiln Trail - June 14, 2012

**Update as of 7/29/2014 - According to many trip reports on WTA.org, the trail is not closed 2 miles in, despite signs (and the Snohomish County Parks website) saying otherwise. Many reviewers hiked the trail with children and had no problem with the trail conditions. Keep in mind that there are steep, narrow parts along the trail, so make sure to supervise your kids to avoid accidents. :-)

**Update as of 4/4/14 - Trail is closed 2 miles in due to slides and unstable condition. See my post for more info.


Even thought I've hiked Lime Kiln Trail several time, it's one of my favorites. It's close to home (about 35 minutes from North Everett) and not a difficult trail to hike.

There is a gravel parking area at the trail head and there were 2 vehicles there when we arrived with friends. We hiked on a Thursday, but I'm sure the parking area is busier on the weekends. I did read on the WTA.org website that there have been several car break-ins/prowls over the last couple of months. ALWAYS remove valuables from your vehicle when leaving it at a trail head (car prowls are common at trail heads because there are usually long periods of time where vehicles are left unattended). You can't always avoid the risk of someone breaking into your vehicle, but if there isn't anything visible, I'm sure it lessens the chance. If there isn't anything to steal, it's that much less of a headache for you if someone does break in.

**Update - I forgot to include this when I originally published this post. It's about the washouts along the trail. There has been one main washout along the trail for the past couple of years which has been easily passable. It's still passable, but has washed out a little bit more. There is a new, big slide area, which is easily passable as well. We had a 3 year old and a 6 year old that did fine with parental help. Just wanted to make a note, so that you would  know what to expect on the trail. :)**

Lots of Salmon Berries along the trail! This is my favorite spot for Salmon Berries and I hit them at their prime!

We hiked the whole trail to the riverbank at the end (7 miles round trip). We had lunch on the riverbank. Lots of big rocks to sit on there.

Before you get to the river you will see the old lime kiln and some artifacts. Please leave all artifacts where they are. Here is a link with more history about Robe Canyon Historic Park and the lime kiln.

Here is the old lime kiln

Pretty scenery along the way:

Not a whole lot of flowers in bloom, but I spotted a few:

Foxglove

Red Columbine - the only one I saw, growing down by the river.

Baldhip Rose

A little green frog we spotted

Fungus pictures:

Slug finishing a snack

Oyster Mushrooms, I think.

Pretty sure these are Eyelash Cup fungus. See the eyelashes around the edges?

I think these are Yellow Tuning Fork mushrooms

And...here is a big happy trails to you from a tree monster along the trail!

Explorer Falls ~ June 30th 2011

This year it seems like there is almost always a chance of rain....today was no exception. We got sprinkled on while we hiked up to Explorer Falls. There is minimal space to park right outside the gate where you begin the trail, but I think you could park along the road if this area was full. There was no one parked here when we arrived at 11:30am. The sad thing is the amount of trash in the parking area, around the falls and the trail areas. Lots of bottles, cans and other assorted debris (including fire pits) from those that don't seem to care about keeping the area nice (I'm assuming that this is an area that people party on the weekends).

After parking, you walk around the gated area and follow the gravel road for about a mile. You will pass a couple of other gravel roads that cutoff, but just stick to the main road and keep going. You will hear the falls on your right hand side and will see a narrow path leading across a creek that will take you up to a view (and a path to the base) of the falls. This is a nice place to eat lunch. If you would like to explore further, you can head up a series of steep switchbacks that start along the creek you crossed after leaving the main gravel road. There is supposed to be a boy scout shelter up there somewhere, but we weren't able to locate it. We did find the trail that led to the top of the falls and a nice lookout. Do be careful here, as there is a large drop off. Lots of mud and water on the trails from the falls on up.

Here are the falls...

Downstream from the falls, near where you make
the small stream crossing...

The view from the ridge at the top of the falls....

The next two are taken on the switchbacks up to the top of the falls...

Stream crossing...

Large slugs....they grow them big here!

Strange bottle cap cross on a tree...

Lovely fungus pictures....

Lots of foxgloves...

 Oh, and did I forget to mention ripe berries? Yes, ripe Salmon berries! Yum!

Happy trails.....and berry snacking.... :)