My dog and I met 7 other Mountaineers at 7:30 a.m. at the Environmental Learning Center and proceeded down to the fisheries building to gain access to South Bluff / South Ridge, clockwise down to the beach, along a short part of the Wetlands Trail where the beavers have been working diligently, up to North Ridge, and back to the Portapotties. I hadn't seen any trip reports for Carkeek on WTA for over a month so... hopefully this helps someone.
The trails we traveled are mostly in great condition -- no blow downs -- although some parts are a bit muddy given recent rains, but the birds more than made up for it - tons of robins, northern flickers, Pacific wrens, a pair of bald eagles, a dozen mallards in the wetland pond, and kinglets and chickadees.
The Wetlands Trail at the base of Pipers Creek is closed due to high water covering the route, and one of the boardwalks has some boards and a rail that are giving in, with plenty of evidence of beaver activity. Not sure that actually constitutes "bridge out," but you definitely can't walk through the Wetlands right now without sloshing through water.
We investigated a few of my favorite trees and continued up Pipers Creek as far as the signage near the QFC, escorting one of our hikers to public transit before continuing back to the cars.
Parking was ample, no permits required. We shared the trail with several other hikers, 3-4 dogs, and some joggers. It was a lovely post-Groundhog Day morning with next to no wind, all told (with one back-tracking error finding Pipers Creek - leader error, officially a scouting mishap) covering 4.7 miles and 696 elevation in 2:26 moving time, a pace of 2 mph.
I get asked all the time, WHY do I lead so early on Tuesdays? 1. Light is better for photography farther away from noon; 2. Birds are most active at dawn; from now until June their songs will be delightful as they spring into mating season; 3. At certain trailheads, manmade noise (leaf blowers, road crews, etc.) are louder the later in the day you start; 4. Trails are more crowded later in the day; 5. Getting out early means you have a good chunk of the day later to get to do other things; and 6. I'm an early bird. Have been most of my life.
We picked up and disposed of several poop bags left beside the trail, which I find hard to understand as there are trash containers all around the park. We also saw evidence of what I'm guessing was homeless (tent) near the QFC-portion of Pipers Creek, but no trash. A lovely park and great group of hikers.
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