Japanese Gulch — Thursday, Jan. 5, 2017

Puget Sound and Islands > Seattle-Tacoma Area

The kids and I were getting restless today so we decided we needed to get out into nature. I have never actually hiked this trail before despite its close proximity to home. We took the trail down passed the gate, just on the other side of the train tracks. I was a bit confused on the trail description that says "turn left after the gate and follow the gravel road down to the water". It's not really a road, it's train tracks. I wasn't sure if this was an active rail line or not so we went straight across the tracks and up the obvious trail. We hiked up a mile or so then came back down. Saw one Downey woodpecker and a couple towhees today. Saw several fox sparrows as well. Trail's in good shape though I noticed quite a bit of litter. The undergrowth seems to be unhealthy as it seems to be mostly sticker bushes... I hope the city can do more to clean this place up. Otherwise, beautiful day to get outside.