Take a Walk
Location: Enumclaw.
Length: About a half-mile.
Level of difficulty: Level-to-gentle, narrow dirt trails (muddy after rains).
By Cathy McDonald | November 25, 2004
It's part of Washington, yet it often seems a world away.
The remote high-desert country of Eastern Washington stands in marked contrast to the crowded urban sprawl of Puget Sound country. The dry lands east of the Cascades and west of the Rockies present a unique landscape that, despite its differences with the rest of the Evergreen State, helps make Washington the natural wonder that it is.
Yet residents of Western Washington typically overlook the east side when seeking a wildland adventure. That's their loss.
By Dan A. Nelson | November 25, 2004
Your head nearly swims by the time you follow the new Lime Kiln Trail into the mossy and mysterious canyon of the South Fork Stillaguamish River and reach the namesake stone edifice, a monument to those who toiled, sweated, ate, drank, laughed and cried here more than 100 years ago.
Who were they? Where did they come from? How did they build this thing? Did their wives and husbands and children live here with them? Were the winters long and lonely?
By Greg Johnston | November 25, 2004
Hike of the Week
Hiking in the mountains becomes a challenge this time of year, but the desert lands to the east are just as special in the cold months as in spring, and Ginkgo Petrified Forest State Park near Vantage is an excellent introduction.
True, winter days are short and the mountain passes can be harrowing, but the park is open year-round and is only about a two-hour drive from Seattle. Get a pass report and an early start, take warm clothing, field guides and head over Snoqualmie Pass for a different kind of hike.
By Karen Sykes | November 25, 2004
It was a frosty Saturday morning in January, and there we were on the snowy banks of the Nooksack River at the foot of Mount Baker. A bunch of newbies on cross-country skis, doing our best not to end up splayed on the snow, involuntarily making snow angels.
We were in an "Introduction to Cross-Country Skiing" class, one of the dozens of low-cost, high-fun classes, outings and trips offered by Whatcom County Parks Outdoor Recreation Program.
By Mike McQuaide | November 25, 2004
