10-05-19
A
last minute call from Kim had us
scrambling for a Saturday morning destination. I had a very long drive
to a hike the next day so opted for something closer to home. I had
only hiked at Lord Hill Park one time and Kim about the same. I headed
over to Kim's place and she drove. My 9:15 am we were at the north
entrance. There were 8-10 cars in the lot. This is an unusual hike in
that it is mostly downhill in the first half and uphill coming back. We
had not gone far when the theme of the day was set. Fresh mushrooms
were everywhere. Much of our route had many varieties all along the
trail. Much time was spent kneeling down to get close up photos of
them.
Another theme was the frogs. The sound was pervasive from start to
finish.
I did a 10 mile trek on my first visit. We did much of that route this time. We headed west to the Devil's Butte area. We saw three mountain bikers. We saw them several times. They too were stopping to admire the mushrooms. This section was mostly on old roads and bike trails. We ended on the Upper Springboard Trail. Near the West View Road/Trail we saw a larger group gong by on that trail. The two group seen comprised about half the people we would see in eight hours in the park. Hard to imaging so much solitude is possible on a trail near the cities.
We continued on the Lower Springboard Trail. There are numerous trails to get to most any destination. That makes for an interesting hike. We ended up at the "Big Junction" where five trail junctions are nearby. Time for a short break on the bench. There is a signboard here with a map showing where you are. Many junctions of roads have them. Good thing as with all the trails it can be a challenge to know exactly where you are without a gps. Fortunately, most of the trails are named at junctions. We took the River Trail/Road downhill from here. There is a shorter trail and we took that one back to the big junction.
The last part of the drop to the Snohomish River had good mushrooms and some big trees covered with ferns. Very photogenic. We arrived at the river at about 12:40 am. We took about 3 1/2 hours to hike about 4 miles. Not very fast but there was a lot to see. There were some dead salmon along the river. That was a bit surprising. Some fish were jumping too. Lots of loud seagulls were on the other side of the river. There were clouds but also some sunshine. We took a longer break here. It was 1:18 pm when we started back. I had missed the fern covered trees coming down but took time to enjoy them on the way up. We passed to hikers coming down. Only the third group seen all day.
We took the River Trail Cutoff back to the Big Junction. One trail going off here is the Liquid Bread Trail. The bikers do use interesting names for their trails. We took the Main Trail over to the Pipeline Trail. The Pipeline is wide and grassy as there is a buried pipeline beneath it. After a very short distance on the Pipeline we turned off right on the trail to Temple Pond 1. More neat mushrooms on this short trail. The Pond is good sized. Rather than go around it we turned around and went back to the Pipeline Trail. The climb up the trail was among the steepest sections we hiked all day. When the grade lessened we found the Pipeline Cutoff Trail on the left. This brought us to a short spur heading up to the Viewpoint. The viewpoint has good views to the east and south. Surprisingly good views from a nosebleed inducing 620' above sea level. The bald has no trees on the east and south sides. There is now a wooden bench with handrails bolted into the rock. That was not there 18 months ago.
The sun was now out enough to feel very warm. We sat down for a long break. We arrived at 2:40 pm. We stayed until 3:47 pm. While we sat in the sunshine clouds began to blow in. Some very big clouds. The cloud show was pretty impressive. Many more photos were taken. On our way down we went to the more easterly viewpoint. We saw just part of a rainbow. I rainbow wall. Good views of peaks on a clear day. Just not today. I took an almost totally different route back to the trailhead. Most trails were marked "hiker only". These were people free. A short stint on the Pipeline Trail did have folks. We also saw folks on the last half mile. For the day we saw about 7 or eight groups for about 17-18 people. Not many over eight hours. It was 5:07 pm when we finished.
I did not expect to spend a full day hiking around Lord Hill. I was pleasantly surprised. Having long breaks at the river and the viewpoint was an added bonus. The mushroom show was really good. I have seen a lot this fall and this was probably the best display yet. It was never warm but in the sun in the afternoon it was very comfortable. There are more scenic places to hike in the summer but his low elevation trail system is great in winter and fall. Good for at least one or two visits each year.
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Trips - 2019
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I did a 10 mile trek on my first visit. We did much of that route this time. We headed west to the Devil's Butte area. We saw three mountain bikers. We saw them several times. They too were stopping to admire the mushrooms. This section was mostly on old roads and bike trails. We ended on the Upper Springboard Trail. Near the West View Road/Trail we saw a larger group gong by on that trail. The two group seen comprised about half the people we would see in eight hours in the park. Hard to imaging so much solitude is possible on a trail near the cities.
We continued on the Lower Springboard Trail. There are numerous trails to get to most any destination. That makes for an interesting hike. We ended up at the "Big Junction" where five trail junctions are nearby. Time for a short break on the bench. There is a signboard here with a map showing where you are. Many junctions of roads have them. Good thing as with all the trails it can be a challenge to know exactly where you are without a gps. Fortunately, most of the trails are named at junctions. We took the River Trail/Road downhill from here. There is a shorter trail and we took that one back to the big junction.
The last part of the drop to the Snohomish River had good mushrooms and some big trees covered with ferns. Very photogenic. We arrived at the river at about 12:40 am. We took about 3 1/2 hours to hike about 4 miles. Not very fast but there was a lot to see. There were some dead salmon along the river. That was a bit surprising. Some fish were jumping too. Lots of loud seagulls were on the other side of the river. There were clouds but also some sunshine. We took a longer break here. It was 1:18 pm when we started back. I had missed the fern covered trees coming down but took time to enjoy them on the way up. We passed to hikers coming down. Only the third group seen all day.
We took the River Trail Cutoff back to the Big Junction. One trail going off here is the Liquid Bread Trail. The bikers do use interesting names for their trails. We took the Main Trail over to the Pipeline Trail. The Pipeline is wide and grassy as there is a buried pipeline beneath it. After a very short distance on the Pipeline we turned off right on the trail to Temple Pond 1. More neat mushrooms on this short trail. The Pond is good sized. Rather than go around it we turned around and went back to the Pipeline Trail. The climb up the trail was among the steepest sections we hiked all day. When the grade lessened we found the Pipeline Cutoff Trail on the left. This brought us to a short spur heading up to the Viewpoint. The viewpoint has good views to the east and south. Surprisingly good views from a nosebleed inducing 620' above sea level. The bald has no trees on the east and south sides. There is now a wooden bench with handrails bolted into the rock. That was not there 18 months ago.
The sun was now out enough to feel very warm. We sat down for a long break. We arrived at 2:40 pm. We stayed until 3:47 pm. While we sat in the sunshine clouds began to blow in. Some very big clouds. The cloud show was pretty impressive. Many more photos were taken. On our way down we went to the more easterly viewpoint. We saw just part of a rainbow. I rainbow wall. Good views of peaks on a clear day. Just not today. I took an almost totally different route back to the trailhead. Most trails were marked "hiker only". These were people free. A short stint on the Pipeline Trail did have folks. We also saw folks on the last half mile. For the day we saw about 7 or eight groups for about 17-18 people. Not many over eight hours. It was 5:07 pm when we finished.
I did not expect to spend a full day hiking around Lord Hill. I was pleasantly surprised. Having long breaks at the river and the viewpoint was an added bonus. The mushroom show was really good. I have seen a lot this fall and this was probably the best display yet. It was never warm but in the sun in the afternoon it was very comfortable. There are more scenic places to hike in the summer but his low elevation trail system is great in winter and fall. Good for at least one or two visits each year.
 First Mushrooms |
 First Fern Covered Trees |
 Amanita Like Shroom |
 Small Mushrooms |
 Mass Of Turkey Tails |
 Piece Missing |
 Lone Mushroom |
 Mushroom Colony |
 Oysters? |
 Low Level View |
 Mold? |
 Carpet Of Mushrooms |
 Neat Pattern |
 Interesting? |
 Fresh Turkey Tails |
 Mossy Trees |
 Big Shroom |
 Kim Leads The Way |
 Enclosed Trail |
 A Little Leaf Color |
 More Fall Color |
 Multi Colored Leaf |
 Turkey Tails On Rocks |
 Best Fall Color |
 Kim Shoots Shrooms |
 Tree-Borne Mushrooms |
 Snohomish River |
 Former Fish |
 Ferns On Branches |
 More Ferns On Trees |
 Nice Lighting |
 Looking Up |
 Teeth Marks |
 Temple Pond Reflection |
 Amanita |
 Viewpoint View |
 Great Cloud Scene |
 Tall Cloud |
 Many Tiny Mushrooms |
 Best Turkey Tails |
Trips - 2019
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