Trail is in good condition. There are signs that the trail had been flooded recently but is quite passable; the only part not trivially reachable is the one part of the boardwalk. No signs of snow.

Got up early and started walking from the north end of Langus Park. Took the loop around the south tip of Smith Island and saw a flock of flickers and a flock of robins. Then looped around Spencer Island, or should I say lake. With the super high tides, the entire island was under water except the dike. Saw thousands of mallard ducks (who must have been avoiding the hunters at the north end of the island), a flight of mergansers, two great blue herons and lots of little brown birds. Bridge decks were all icy and slippery. About 5 miles. I was pleasantly surprised that the freeway noise was muted and not at all bothersome.

Sunny weekend days in December are tricky. There's so much you want to do that it is hard to make time for it all. So, balancing the desires to put up Christmas lights, clean gutters, go hiking, etc, etc, I decided to pick a short hike close to home. Spencer Island, probably less than a 15 minute drive from my house...perfect! It's not very remote, and you can hear the highway the whole time in the distance, but it is still a somewhat relaxing setting. To get a little more time outdoors, I started at Langus Riverfront Park, walked up the Snohomish River to Spencer Island, did the Spencer Island Loop, and then back down the River. I started late in the day, around 2:30, and was able to enjoy the entire hike in magical wintertime lighting conditions. The tide was out and the waterfowl were in. This was hike 23 of my 30/300/30000 @ 30 challenge. 1. Deception Pass 2. Wallace Falls 3. Spencer Island 4. E. Fork Foss River 5. Lake Serene 6. Wallace Falls 7. Goat Lake (N. Cascades) 8. Boulder River 9. Third Beach to Toleak Point (Overnight) 10. Big Quilcene/Marmot Pass (Overnight) 11. Lake 22 12. N. Fork Skokomish (Overnight) 13. Welcome Pass/High Divide 14. Golden Lakes/Sunset Park (Overnight) 15. Glacier Basin 16. Sunrise Area Trails 17. Park Butte 18. Mt. Pilchuck 19. Barclay Lake 20. Cutthroat Pass 21. West Fork Foss River 22. Mount Constitution 23. Spencer Island 23 Hikes, 200.8 Miles, 42200' Elevation Gain.

Time got away from me and I couldn't do the hike I planned, so my walking buddy and I did our "fall back" walk around Spencer and along the river. Every time I come up here it seems like I see a new bird, and today I had my binocs and Birds of Puget Sound with me. New birds, Northern Harrier, and Northern Pintail duck. The blure heron was there and so was the eagle, and lots of mallards. I see this is on the walk the turkey off list. Good choice.