Paradise Valley Conservation Area - June 21, 2012

A wooden foot bridge along the Lloyd Trail.

One of several small Cairns that I saw along the Lloyd Trail.

This was our second trip to Paradise Valley Conservation Area in Woodinville. The last time we went was in December and it was much warmer this time, thankfully!

There were several cars parked in the parking area when we arrived at around 11:30 am on a Thursday. I'm pretty sure the parking area fills up quickly on the weekends. There is a portable toilet in the parking area.

I would recommend printing a map from the link above. You can plan your route as you go.

We left the parking area and walked the Whispering Firs and Cascara trails. Then we headed a short way down the Mainline Trail to The Clearing for lunch. This is a nice open area with benches and makes a great place to have lunch.

Having lunch in The Clearing

After we ate we headed down the Mainline Trail until we hit the Lloyd Trail and took that until it reaches the Southern Traverse Trail. From there we followed the Forest Ridge Trail back to the Mainline Trail. We walked out to the parking lot after we finished and went for ice cream at The Snoqualmie Ice Cream Cafe when we were done. It's just a few minutes from the trailhead and has delicious ice cream!

We encountered several bikes along the trails that we hiked as well as some muddy spots (I would recommend hiking boots, or at the very least sturdy tennis shoes).

There are about 13 miles of trails in this park and is a great place to explore with kids. Plenty of easy walking trails for even the youngest of hikers!

I found my first ripe huckleberries of the season. There were quite a few Red Huckleberries around!

The bleeding hearts were still in bloom:

 I thought the Oregon Grapes were a really pretty green color:

Here are my fungus pictures:

I found this pine cone carefully balancing on this Huckleberry branch.

Happy Trails!

Paradise Valley Conservation Area ~ December 1, 2011

We went for a very chilly hike at the Paradise Valley Conservation Area. I think temperatures stayed in the 30 degree range while we hiked! There was a lot of fog as well. It was nice to be outside and get some exercise and fresh air though, despite the cool weather.

I haven't been to this area before, but I will definitely be back. I printed a map to bring with me as this is one of those places that has a variety of looping trails.

We walked from the parking lot on the mainline trail and cut off on the Wetland Plateau Trail. We ate lunch where the trail ended at the Southern Traverse Trail and then turned around and headed back the way we came. We walked almost 2 miles round trip. This was plenty long as everyone was ready to warm up when we got back to the parking lot!

We encountered some mud on the trail, one viewpoint of Mt. Baker that would have been nice if we weren't fogged in, several other hikers and a couple of leashed dogs.

The brochure (found in the map link above), says that the parking lot can be full on busy weekends. I would save this hike for the off season or weekday times to avoid the crowds.

Found lots of very large, yellow leaves. I think they are Black Cottonwood? Someone correct me if I'm wrong. :)

I also noticed many pieces of wood and branches that had hair ice on them. I've never seen anything like it. It was really pretty. At first I thought it was some kind of slime mold or fungus.

Here are the fungus pictures:

I thought this was a cool picture of the leaf stabbed on a sharp branch.

Happy trails!

Old Sauk River Trail ~ June 9th 2011

It was a cooler cloudy day on our hike at the Old Sauk River Trail. Plenty of parking at the trailhead and we were the only ones there (aside from one ranger and one work party vehicle) at 11:30am when we arrived. The trail is nice and level with not much elevation change. Pretty views of the river and forest along the way.

There were several work parties on the trail doing repairs to the trail and building new bridges.

One of the work crews hard at work making a new log bridge.

Crossing the older bridge, next to the crew getting
a new one ready...

 The trail is about 3 miles one way. We hiked about 2 miles in before we turned around. The trail was in good condition as the work crews had already cleared all of the fallen trees off of the trail. A few muddy spots along the trail, but they were few and far between.

A lovely, fat slug....

A little harder to see...but a toad that hopped across the trail
in front of us...

Plants along the trail....

I couldn't get the camera to focus as well as I would
have liked.....but I thought the seeds hanging from
this grass were really unique!

Western Coralroot Orchid

Thimble Berry blossom....I love Thimble berries, by the way....

Devil's Club...can't wait til it's in bloom...
I love it's spiky flowers....

This was the bottom of  the root ball on a tree that
had blown down....it was a living wall of flowers and
ferns and things....and I though it was really pretty!
The picture below is closer up of the vegetation growing
on it.

The fungus pictures:

I think this may be tapioca slime mold or brefeldia maxima

I can just imagine a small forest fairy has this
lovely mushroom as sun shade outside her
home... :)

Happy trails.....