Nippy at the Prospect today! Windchill on top of lowish temps (probably around 32 up there) made for a quick sandwich-cram at the viewpoint. My hands felt like foreign objects, numb with cold. (I shoulda bought mittens last REI visit! Gloves don't do it for me). But--it was a nice hike to do this time of year: big, easily accessible parking lot, pretty quick drive from Edmonds, not a lot of people (we saw 8 hikers all day), trail in good condition, and enough of an incline and length that it gets your ya-yas out. RT was 8.4 miles,which took us about 4 hours of hiking.
Highlights of this hike: a couple very nice alder groves, especially appreciated in The Dark Months (they let the sunlight stream through); some nice second growth Doug firs (circa 100 yrs. old); and several interesting viewpoints. Grand Prospect provided a great view today, across Snoqualmie Valley (North Bend clearly visible below) and north, with Mt. Baker and several other peaks in view. The Raging River mountain bike trail network criss-crosses the Rattlesnake Mountain trail (which is the trail leading to Grand Prospect), which is also interesting. We saw about a dozen bikers today, always (in my experience) an upbeat, friendly lot! But the hikers and bikers have separate trails, which works out well here.
Hints: dress in layers (warmly) and bring poles. We found the latter useful in a couple icy areas. These areas were short but compacted icy patches (well beyond Stan's Overlook) where we liked having poles at hand. The Prospect itself has some snow (see pics), but what is more notable is the freezing wind. Let's just say that it took until we hiked back down to Stan's Overlook area (over two miles down) before I could undo any buttons or zippers without feeling as if my fingers were fused together. . . !
Happy hiking, Everyone, and Happy Thanksgiving next week!
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