Lord Hill is becoming a favorite place for winter hikes.  It is nearby, just south of Snowhomish, has a small but adequate parking lot with port-o-potty, and is laced with many forest trails.  Signage has not kept up with all the trails but there are helpful signs every once in awhile.  Most of the trails are dry, wide, and easy to hike.  Running north-south through the middle of Lord Hill park is a cleared band with trail called the Pipeline trail.  There is a gas line below ground there.

We hiked to Beaver Marsh Lake and then to English Pond.  From there we found a leather map nailed to a tree that guided us to Temple Pond.  One trail from English to the Temple Pond trail had a number of muddy sections but they were easy to navigate.  Returning north up the Pipeline trail, we found a broad crossover road to the Main trail. 

Along the way we discovered Midway Footpath which is still a work in progress.  What a fun trail!  Much of it is newly hacked out of the virgin forest and the north end has many blowdowns and one muddy marsh to cross on a log, but it was a great adventure.  We found Hidden Lake, a park bench in the woods, and a charming old gnome stump decorated with offerings from passers by.  All in all a very enjoyable exploration.

I decided to try this trail network on the way home from another hike.  I've included 2min of video highlights below.

Beautiful forests, ponds and a great view East to the cascades!

Salmonberry and bleeding hearts were in bloom.

The best part of the hike was seeing a barred owl up close.  I saw maybe a dozen others during the 7 miles - evenly mixed between horseback riders, mountain bikers and hikers.

The trail junctions have excellent signs.  The only scenic views I found were on the little overlook side trail off of the Pipeline Cutoff trail.

Another Lord Hill report?!  Sure. It's what I do...

Parked at the southend today. Sure is nice now that the gate is open to all that parking, but here's the thing - it also invites all the rowdies and their trucks. They've been tearing it up in the gravel, and cutting across the infield - creating a huge mudpit. Irresistible if you're into that sort of thing. Looks like they recently busted through the green gate, and attempted to drag a concrete block out of the way.

This is the sort of thing that has got a lot of Forest Service roads closed - people with no ethics that just want to drink it up, tear it up, shoot it up, and leave their mess behind. Somehow, they don't realize that's what gets the gates locked, ruining it for everyone. Guess you don't have to be too smart to be a mudslinger. It's probably only a matter of time before the gate is locked again...

Sorry. Guess this is more of a rant than a trail report. Didn't use many trails today, as I was shed hunting. (didn't find any) Tried to find where Lost Creek re-appears, but I think it runs underground and into the lake. Sat out a couple passing showers in one of my secret spots, and enjoyed the warmer temps and new green on the trees.

A fun day exploring the south side!

Hello again. I've been keeping a low profile lately - seems one of my last reports landed me in a bit of hot water. Oh well, life on the run...

Todays route : Waynes World/Midway/Beaver Lake/Red Barn/English Pond/Temple Pond/Temple Pond Equestrian/Pipeline. I then did my weekly check of the entire Midway.

Everything in good shape, just mud holes here and there. That's to be expected this time of year. A couple days ago, after all the rain, there were huge puddles of water covering a lot of the trails. After a couple dry days these are mostly gone, so everything should be good for this weekend.

Here's the story of Beaver "Lake" : At one time, it was an actual lake, albeit a shallow one. Periodically, the beaver dam would burst, and flood everything downstream. The county installed a drain at the lower end, preventing the lake from getting too large. So it's now more of a pond. The upper end has turned into a big marshy meadow, and is home to all kinds of wildlife, so it all turned out well. Just don't expect to find a lake that's still shown on the map.

Saw a good goose fight at Temple Pond. The challenger was chased off after a noisy battle, but was hanging around for round two. The fisher was unimpressed...

No trash today - good for you!  (a few T.P. flowers though.) Expect some mud, pack your trash, and have a great weekend!