Klapatche Park, St. Andrews Park - St. Andrews Lake — Sunday, Aug. 13, 2023

I started my morning by riding my bike 10 miles up to Klapatche Point to do some star gazing.  Most stars I have seen anywhere in the park!

After a half hour of stargazing and catching my breath from the bike ride, I locked up my bike at the North Puyallup TH. This is the northern most accessible trail on Westside Rd.  I then walked a mile south to the Klapatche Creek TH to do a mini loop on the Westside Rd.

Even though the stats don’t look all that demanding, I always find the Klapatche Creek trail a workout.  It seems like a steady non forgiving climb up to St Andrew’s Lake.

I enjoyed breakfast and sunrise at St Andrews Lake in total solitude.

I then headed back down to the WT (Wonderland Trail) to connect with the North Puyallup trail.  

The Klapatche park bear was out eating breakfast in the identical spot I see him every time I am on this trail in the morning.  I guess we are all creatures of habit.

This section of the WT is a steep decline if heading north.  A STEEP incline if heading south.  I saw three groups of folks doing the full WT circuit heading south, CCW.  Tried to give them encouragement as they climbed one of the steepest sections of the WT in the heat.

Once I hit the North Puyallup trail, trail conditions change dramatically.  It is a trail that has hardly been used since the closing of Westside Rd. It is really cool to see the old rock walls built that are all moss covered.  A ton of wildlife scat of all varieties.  Wildlife has learned where the people are not.

Great morning of stargazing and exploring some lesser traveled trails in the park!