Shadow of The Sentinels — Thursday, Dec. 8, 2022

Super fun but short snowshoe hike, less than 1 mile! The snow was about a foot deep so snowshoeing was easier than just trying to walk it. There are a lot of boardwalks along the way, several interpretive signs, and nice benches for sitting and looking up at the trees soaring into the clouds above.

Trail is easy to follow even though no tracks were visible in the fresh snow. No downed trees or debris to navigate.  Lots of birds out and about (wrens, juncos, jays, woodpeckers). The towering evergreens are even more impressive when their dark trunks are contrasted with the white snow.

Outhouse was open and clean though smelly and very little TP.

The only difficulty was the parking.  The parking area has not been plowed.  Not wanting to park on the side of the road (the shoulders were not plowed either and the road isn’t all that wide) we decided to bulldoze through the snowplow berm with our AWD SUV.  Yup, we got stuck, but we brought a shovel and managed to get out rather easily. 

NOTE: This is considered a “snow park” area according to the Washington State Parks website, however, no snow park pass or permit is required.