It was a pretty day despite the poor air quality. I set off not feeling my best, which made this trail a good choice for a less-than-prime day. The trails from the Chuckanut Trail Head parking lot to the Madrone Crest Trail were wide and easy to traverse. I enjoyed the alternating climbs and flat stretches and started feeling better about halfway up. I was glad to be carrying my gps to navigate the interurban trail exchanges and some of the unmarked paths, but this could probably be done with only a map.
The Madrone Crest Trail itself was a much more narrow, forested trail and the bugs really picked up. Luckily they left me alone, but I'm sure if it weren't for my mask, I probably would have swallowed quite a few.
As mentioned in other reports, the viewpoint really is nothing much. Perhaps when the air isn't so smoky, one could see some water through the trees, but it's really just the rock at the crest itself. A little disappointing to not get a nice payoff at the top, but it was still nice to have a destination goal, and I do love a big rock 😅
I did my loop in about 3 hours and would love to push a little further out on a future trip!
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