Coal Creek Trail, Primrose Overlook — Thursday, Dec. 1, 2022

    We had a magical hike on the Coal Creek trail starting at the 121rd Ave SE trailhead and making an 8.5 mile out and back trek to the Redtown TH. What started as a dusting of snow in the Newport Hills neighborhood gradually increased in snow depth the higher we walked and reached 5” deep at Redtown. Partially cloudy skies above the creek valley turned mostly blue, but the sun was too low in the sky fall on the trail. So temperatures were in the low 30’s all day. Snow was new and we had no slipping situations. Most likely after a nights freeze the trail will become dicey in spots. Trail traffic was super light, only 1 car at the CoalCreek Parkway TH when we passed through and 5 up at Redtown. The porta potty at the Coal Creek Parkway was clean and stocked with supplies. Most trail users appeared to be neighbors out for a dog walk or stroll. There were a few deadfall tree trunks and branches we threw off the trail and a more we had to climb over or shimmy under. The biggest being a clump of deciduous trees in the upper Primrose Loop Trail. We arrived back to our vehicles at 2:20 and the lower portion of the trail from Coal Creek Parkway west had melted out. Another fantastic day to be out in nature with friends.