Over the holiday season I aquired a new two-person tent (Hi-Tec Infinity 2) and I have been dying to get it setup. So today I loaded up the pup and headed to the McLellan Conservation Area to spend some time with the woods. When I arrived, the parking lot was cleared of most of the snow but the trail was not. You could kind of tell that there were some pre-existing snowshoe tracks but they had been mostly covered up/filled with snow. I definitely should've brought some snowshoes of my own along but failed to do so. After trudging through at least a foot deep worth of snow for almost an hour, I found a nice spot by the river to set up the tent and hammock and have a little lunch. The river is mostly frozen over but you can see evidence of the ice melting in certain areas. The whole McLellan Conservation area is gorgeous. I ended up falling asleep for a nice little nap before once again trudging through foot deep snow back to the car. Overall I would recommend this area to anyone looking to explore and get some seclusion from the noises of the city. Just beware when there is heavy snow as you DO NEED snowshoes. Happy trails!

I explored the McClellan Preserve on Sunday of Memorial Day weekend, and I had the area entirely to myself... between the sunshine, the wildflowers, and the sound of woodpeckers hammering nearby, it was a pretty fun exploratory hike. A word to the wise about those looking for an easy day hike: the trails (old jeep roads? wildlife tracks?), or not maintained nor easily followed, so my trail run was actually more of a frolic through lake-side meadows. Luckily, with water on two sides and a fence on the third, it wasn't hard to find my way back to the car. This would be an excellent location for a WTA work party, or a trail-building party for a boy scout troop (I'm thinking a possible Eagle Scout project??!! Yes please!). It's a great location, with great scenery, but until there's some trail maintenance you're going to end up with a lot of confused hikers and/or disgruntled land owners.

Getting to the parking area is a little tricky here, there are two pull-outs that look like they are roads (one is closed and the other is maybe an old logging road?). Don't be fooled, you want the one that is paved briefly before turning into a nice dirt road. There's really not much of a trail to speak of here. The area was previously logged, and the trails are mostly old logging roads that are hard to spot and overgrown. The area has a lot of litter and nearby residents were firing off guns frequently, which caused us to leave sooner than we might have otherwise. Some early spring wild flowers were up including buttercups and Idaho blue-eyed grass.

With the new Day Hiking Eastern Washington book in hand, we spent a Sunday afternoon checking out the 410-acre property overlooking a bend in the Spokane River. We had the place entirely to ourselves. The area is about 30 minutes northwest of Spokane, and would make a great spot for a family picnic (if the bugs cooperated). Walking the ridge with a view of the river on our west was lovely. A highlight was being buzzed by a huge raptor (hawk? osprey?). The trail was faintly marked (and dotted here and there by rock cairns) but the walking was easy. It would be nearly impossible to get lost here, since it's bounded by water on two sides and wire fence on the third. When you come down off the ridge to the river, things turn lush and green. This would be my pick for a lunch spot, but only if the bugs weren't bad (we encountered a few persistent flies, but no mosquitoes). We made a loop as we climbed back up to the small bluff. It's a relatively short climb, and most kids over 3 or 4 could manage it. In short: not a spectacular hike, but a dog- and family-friendly spot pretty close to town with some wildlife watching potential. If you picnic or hike with a dog, please pack out all your trash/poo and keep your pup on leash, since this spot was established as a key wildlife habitat corridor along Long Lake. More info here: http://www.spokanecounty.org/parks/content.aspx?c=1892