Old Sauk River Trail

We were lazing around on Saturday afternoon when suddenly I felt that some exercise was in order. Should we do what normal people do and have a walk around the block, maybe go for a swim? Of course not! We decided to go on a six-mile hike.

I found a lovely little trail that looked promising (hardly any elevation gain, lots of old growth), and we set off. We didn't even bother wearing hiking boots, opting instead for running shoes since the trail was reported to be in pretty great condition without a bunch of logs and rocks to climb over. (This nearly proved to be a poor decision near the end, when Patrick almost twisted his ankle, but ultimately managed to avoid it.)

It took about an hour and a half to get to the trailhead, since it was a goodly way up I-5 (past Everett, for those of you who know) and then east out past Darrington, a very tiny town featuring signs such as Sheep For Sale and TNT! Buy One Get One Free!, on the Mountain Loop Highway. The hike itself took a couple hours. 6 miles isn't much when you're walking on pavement, but on windy trails with things to step over and maneuver around it is a significant distance. We did it all! I am so proud of us. I like how we go weeks without doing anything and then suddenly decide to go on a long hike. /shrug At least we made it back before dark.

After our hike, we decided a meal was appropriate and tried Anthony's Seaport in Everett, which was actually really good. Patrick had Dungeness crab fettuccine and I had scallops with green beans and rice. Yum! Their chowder was pretty good as well. It's right on the water, and the wind coming off the waves at 9pm is very chilly when you're covered in a full-body slick of sweat from a hike. Brrrrr! I had some herbal tea to warm up, and the chowder helped a lot too. If you live on a boat, they offer free moorage while dining. So there's that. I love living on the west coast. We're all so strange.

I took numerous pictures (Patrick took a few as well), so I am including them here but throwing in a page jump because otherwise they will clog up the entire first page of this blog. Enjoy!

Driving there you can see the north Cascades.

Farmhouses! We done be country now.

Sunlight through the trees on our hike.

Sadly this is a bit unfocused (digital zoom on iPhones kind of fails still), but the fungus was delicate and beautiful looking, like little ghost dresses rising out of the green.