Had an unexpected day off, and was faced with a decision -  go shopping, or go hiking. Since your reading this, you know how that went...

The sun popped out briefly, so I hustled to the Viewpoint to soak it up. Looking up the valley, I could see Wallace Falls was raging. Might be a good one to consider this weekend. The clouds started rolling in, so I thought I would check out the Midway S. before the rain hit.

Lots of leaves in this section - I can see how someone could lose the trail. I will come back this week and at least brush the ferns, and that should help. Also came across a large blowdown that took quite a bit of work to clear. Unofficially, of course. ;)

With a bit of a chest cold and a sketchy forecast for the mountains, we decided to explore Lord Hill today.  After a delicious breakfast at the Maltby Café, we drove up and around to the parking lot on the north side of the park, off 127th Ave SE.  Take advice from the WTA Pro Tip in the description and print yourself some maps from the Snohomish County website beforehand.  We brought along the primary trail map with its messy spiderweb of trails, as well as the simpler-but-less-complete Trail Mileage map.  I also had my GPS with me, which was a big help exploring around and searching for views.  

We decided to turn right at the first intersection after the boardwalks, unlike most hikers/walkers, and go by the equestrian entrance and onto the Main Trail.  From here we took the first right onto the West View trail, hoping that with names like West View Loops, Devil's Butte, and a listed View Point ahead we'd find some views.  Unfortunately, whatever views once existed on this side of the park are now blocked by trees, even in late November with bare branches.  

Staying straight at the intersection with the Devil's Butte Trail, continuing west, brought us to what's listed as South Loop on the trail map or Loop Trail on the mileage map.  We turned right to take the lesser trail around the South Loop.  It winds along a hillside and gives glimpses to a pond below to the north (outlined with a thin, blue line on the trail map), and then eventually leads to the designated View Point 650' on the mileage map, which appears as just a little spur on the main trail map.  Here there is a bench, picnic table, and what may have once been nice views, but all directions are now blocked by trees with just some peekaboo sights between.  

From here we wound north to the West Loop, taking the route left around the loop, the path signed for horses at the junction rather than the bicycle-signed path to the right.  While wandering through this area, we encountered a couple other hikers who asked if we'd found the viewpoint.  We told them about the spot with a picnic table and bench, but they described some location they'd found on a prior visit where the trail drops down and leads to a large rock that you can climb on top for great views with a sheer drop below.  This sounded intriguing, and I thought maybe it was at the end of one of the dead-end spur trails shown leaving the park off the North Loop on the main trail map, so we headed left on the North Loop, zig-zagging toward those spurs.  

We found the side trail heading off that would take us to the spurs but people had laid a pile of branches across it and tried to disguise it as much as possible.  There was a faint footpath to the left, so we followed that around the blockage and reconnected briefly with the old trail, only to then see why people had blocked off the start of this path: a massive blowdown of trees completely smothered the trail ahead.  Enter my GPS!  Thanks to having a constant view from above on my little Garmin, we were able to work our way around the blowdown and venture out to the north spur.  It ended on the shoulder of a hill, but with no views, and several boot paths descending further down the hillside in different directions.  We decided there wouldn't be any views further down so we headed back to the blowdown, climbing over some trees and connecting with the south spur.  This led steeply down, getting us excited that maybe we'd found the path the other hikers described.  But then our excitement was extinguished when it ended at private property and a No Trespassing sign.  There was a little flat area just beyond the sign that had a bit of an overlook of the valley below, but no real views because once again there were tall trees in the way.  

After our search ended in disappointment, we climbed back up and around the blowdowns and returned to the main Devil's Butte trail.  We followed this east where it descends and goes past the pond we'd seen from above earlier on the South Loop.  By now it was getting late so we circled south along Devil's Butte trail back to the West View trail and retraced our route to the car.  The search for views never succeeded, but we did manage to spend hours enjoying the beautiful forest and photographing all sorts of neat trees, plants, fungi, and water, making for a great, low-key day.  

Got a late start so opted to go for a snow-free hike with the dog on a low-land winter trail. Had heard of the park so decided to give it a try. As per other trip reports, found that the TH map can be confusing. Ended up using the Gaia app which was much easier to follow (and showed us where we went wrong!) Started at the northern TH which was quite full when we arrived. Lovely saunter through the woods. Took a wrong turn and ended up missing Beaver Lake, although Gaia indicated that we were very close to the western side, just that bush-whacking through the grass was not what we wanted to do when there were other things to see. Walk to English pond was pretty, expected to see thatched houses nearby! Met a nearby homeowner who was clearing a tree that had come down on the the trail the previous evening.  Sauntered around Temple Pond then headed to the Snohomish River to take a peek.  Wanted to get a view so headed up Liquid Bread trail (who comes up with these names?) to the Pipeline Cutoff Trail and the view point just off of this trail. There is a clearing with a bench and a nice view facing west but make sure to take the tiny trail loop and see the view on the eastern side. It was starting to get dark so we took the Main trail and Ewe Tube (!) to head back to the TH.  Easy walk on a pretty November day. Highly recommend using the Gaia map to see where you are going, or just let your feet take you on an adventure!

Lost at Lord Hill yet again! The maze of trails, most of them unmarked, are now listed on the map at the TH. It didn't help much. We took the pond tour, Beaver to Red Barn, missed the intersection to English pond, but did the Temple Pond, then wandered around the pond. We then took the Pipeline down intending on taking the River trail to eat lunch at the river. We got on the River Cutoff, but then missed the actual River trail (not marked) and ended up going past the unnamed pond and eating at the Quarry. We had met a friendly biker who told us where the Midway trail started, as that was recommended by the Bandit. We headed back on the Midway. The southern start is just to the east of the unnamed pond,it goes along the east side of the pond. There is a small hiker sign on the tree with a small sign for the Midway, you will see it just after you start along the trail. (Picture) This is a great little trail, along the way are a few little things people have tucked here and there. When was the last time you saw a My Little Pony? It crosses a little stream a few times as it goes thru the ravine. We were doing great...until we weren't. We somehow lost the trail in the brown maple leaves lining the floor of the woods. Now we were between the ridges, off trail and officially on the 'scenic route'. We bushwhacked uphill for a ways, figuring we would eventually hit one of the main trails. We didn't. We saw a bald spot that looked like it might have a view so we could orient ourselves and ironically, we found the VERY VIEW we got lost looking for last time! A nice bench and a view of Mt Rainier AND a trail going down the other side. After following this trail we came across the Midway again and decided to pick it back up. It was a charming little trail, a few benches and some little treasures nestled in an old log. We THINK we were at the Hidden Pond. We kept going...and going...and going, until we realized we were somewhere by a swamp and our time was running out, so we backtracked to find the Main Trail and head out. When we finally came across a main path, we found 2 other confused hikers. We knew where we were, but we weren't sure which way to head to get back. He used his GPS to find our turn and we followed the Main Trail back to the parking lot. My recommendation: If you don't want a wander, stick to the main trails. The maps scattered thruout the park only show the main trails. I have posted a picture of the map I took at the TH. It has the most complete listing of trails with the names. HOWEVER, very few of the trails are, in fact, actually named with signs. The picture I took at the beginning was hard to enlarge and view while actually hiking. (I posted the picture)  IMHO this park could use a good paper map showing the topography and named trails like the ACFL GT map, not to mention more trail marking. Even color coded blazes  on the trees would help. My fitbit said I hiked about 10 miles, so I probably did about 9. 

Nice day on the Hill. Was mostly OT, but the trails I did take were clear. The Startup is still closed, but still very walkable. ;) From the top, I basically cut XC to the Viewpoint.

Sat on the backside for awhile, and watched a huge flock of ducks circling Temple Pond. I think they were spooked by someone's dog, and finally settled for Bald Hill Pond. (Good choice - but now they want to build a trail out there, too. Back in the day, the big complaint was that there weren't many trails. Now I think there are too many...)

All the mountains were out - some with a fresh coat of white. Wallace Falls was full. Still some color in the trees, but it won't last long. Most of the leaves have dropped. Heading back on the Midway, they totally covered the trail in places. And it's nice to see water in the ponds and creeks again.

As always, a great close-in destination for the winter months...