I haven't walked them yet but I just received a phone call from a homeowner who lives next to the north trailhead of the Redmond Watershed Preserve to report that the trails are open again.

This morning I was all psyched to take a nice long X-mas eve walk but it was not in the stars I arrived at the turn off for the preserve and the gates were closed and the sign said it was closed due to storm damage. And after seeing all the trees down along the roads getting there I believed them. There was no info on the website about this closure.

After 3 days of other lowland hikes we decided to check out the Redmond Watershed Preserve. Driving directions: From SR520 continue onto Avondale Road. Proceed north for 1.25 mi. Turn right on Novelty Hill Road for 2.4 mi. The park entrance is on the left across from 218th NE. This is the south entrance. A nice map is avail. at the kiosk by the restroom. We opted for the Trillium trail/Collin Creek trail/Siler's Mill trail loop which took about 2 1/2 hours with a brief snack stop at the black water pond on Siler's Mill trail. This is a much more pleasant park than I had imagined and we only saw two other parties until the end of the trip. Pets are not allowed in the park; however the first couple we encountered (runners) had a large dog-no leash. As urban walks go this one is pretty darn nice.

We have been exploring this nice lowland area while I rehab a bad knee, thus making it more than a one day trip. It is on the ridge above (to the east) Redmond- Novelty Hill Road to the south and 133rd NE, off Avondale Road, to the north. The south end has a nice restroom complex- locked- and big parking area. Most importantly there are nice paper maps available. All trails are well marked so easy to explore the loops and one could go 6-8 miles doing them all. We like the area in the NE corner best so far as it has a nice beaver area. We have not seen the NW corner yet. This is a pretty, not heavily used area, for those of us longing for the forest this time of year! Mixed use- horses and bikes allowed on some of the trails. Pleasant!

My plans for a grand day touching snowlines in the Cascades were taken to the cleaners at the last moment. But being home with Christopher all day in the sun got us out the door for a hike anyhow. Since I needed to get by the park anyhow, we headed to the Redmond Watershed Preserve park east of Redmond on Novelty Hill. This 806 acre oasis of forest is part of the city of Redmond's park system and it now greatly enhanced from about 5 years ago when it was a mess of user conflicts. In other words, it was one big mud pit due to massive overuse by bikers and horses and no place for hikers. Now it has designated hiker only trails, and those trails for bikes are in much stronger shape to handle them. All trails are excellent hiking especially mid-week now through winter. Even with the huge parking lot we were the only people there all morning. We started with the short 1/2 mile Treefrog Loop which takes you on a nice stroll to a lake and is also wheelchair accessible. From there we headed north on the trail system which in all can result in very nice 5-7 miles of hiking! We hiked up through golden yellow trees and stopped often to photograph mushrooms which are now beginning to fruit up everywhere. I now have some GREAT photos of him taking pictures behind my tripod with my Nikon gear! I had our digital camera with me to get images for an article I'm writing that is due Friday. But he likes now to be able to push the button to take a REAL picture, so I hid beside him and shot him. Will be fun images in 25 years no doubt. We hiked about 2 miles and saw belted kingfishers, varied thrushes, both downey and hairy woodpeckers, and other cool 3 year old things like slugs, snails, salamanders, and leaves on the ground. And, now that he isn't in diapers, he got to pee on his first tree today! He thought that was a riot! So, he also got the talk that this is only done when way out in the forest away from toilets---not in schoolyards, church parking lots after sunday school, Grandma's front yard, etc.... : ) We hiked longer than expected, so rather than just eat the customary cheese and breadsticks on the way home we really splurged and both had happy meals at the golden arches. He got the Bashful dwarf head keychain in his, I got Sleepy. Alas, I was sleepy by the time we drove back out to Fall City in time to fly kites in the howling east winds we had today. Yawn....