Billy Frank Jr. Nisqually National Wildlife Refuge — Sunday, Jan. 4, 2026

Nice almost-midway hike for a meetup with a friend from Portland. Tons of water on the road and I don’t love that but we got lucky and the sun shined on us at the wildlife refuge. I like to avoid the woods when high wind is forecasted so this nice open trail is perfect. We saw all kinds of birds that. Maybe 6 or 8 different kinds of ducks. The boardwalk between the visitor center and barns is closed for safety and the last 700 feet of the long boardwalk is closed for hunting season. We were still able to make it about 5 miles watching for birds and listening to frogs.
Started to rain as we got back to the car so we opted for pizza in Olympia. I can recommend Vic’s Pizza if you’re hungry.