Spring has been here for quite some time. The bleeding heart patches are close to the intersection with the West Loop and Up Quick trails. They were wilted, but there were still some. Other flowers included trailing blackberry, herb robert, western starflower, buttercup, and sometimes Siberian spring beauty.

The trail is in fantastic shape, and the boardwalks make it very easy. We turned around at the intersection with West Loop and Up Quick. There was only one other car at the trailhead; the WTA instructions to the TH are spot on.

This was also our first birding trip together, and we saw downy woodpeckers, acorn woodpeckers, some kind of yellow warbler, an Anna's hummingbird, hawks, spotted towhees, and a grayish bird with a reddish wing bar (not sure what, roughly sparrow sized).

This is a nice low elevation snow free hike that can be done year round.  It is managed by the City of Mount Vernon. It never gets crowded. The Darvil trailhead only holds 3-4 cars but it's rarely full.

There are 2 view points. One that looks out over the north part of the Skagit valley and includes the San Juan islands and Oyster Dome.  The south view looks over the southern half of the Skagit delta.  

We took the West Loop Trail on the return.  This passes near the old car wreckage from the 1930's (Bonny and Clyde Tr).  It also passes through a very nice old growth forest.

We ended with delicious Gorditas at Juana's Taqueria (Conway Chevron Station).  This is a little dive with tasty food. They also have great local ice cream.

RT 6.2 mi, 1400 ft

My partner wanted a snow free hike, close to Seattle and we decided on this one. We did a variety of loops and couldn’t get to 10 miles. The hike is mostly wood, with some relics scattered about, from a century ago when it was logged. It has a couple of view points, but they are somewhat obscured by vegetation. If you like a forest hike, this is the one for you.

Enjoyed the hike --loved all the leaves on the ground.  Pretty steady uphill hike, well laid out trail.  Passed only about 5 or 6 people the entire time.  We hadn't realized that there was a road that went to the top, so that was a surprise, but totally fine.   

We had a little trouble confirming we were on the correct trail coming down from the ridge as there seem to be a lot of spurs.  More signage would be helpful.  Overall a lovely day.

First day of fall hike

We parked at the southern trailhead near the archery range. Hiked southern connector -> down south -> Taylor’s trail -> west loop -> Julianne’s Trail -> mossy rock -> upper surfers way -> down south -> souther connector. 3.5 miles in total. Taylor’s trail was overgrown and narrow. Julianne’s trail has the most ups and downs and steepest sections. Rocks and roots in areas on the trails but easy to navigate. We hiked before the rain started but it was pretty windy. Vine maples are changing colors and a few big leap maples. We took my mom with us and this was her first time going to little mountain and she really enjoyed herself.