Today called for a hike that was close enough to do before work. I arrived at Little Mountain just before the gate was unlocked at 10:00, so I parked below the gate, leashed up the dog and hit the newest trail, which is located on the right side of the road and is marked with fresh gravel and a couple of traffic cones. Heading south, aka UP, I came to the trail called Up Quick. This is near the gate, a trailhead kiosk and some recent trail improvements by the great volunteers of Mount Vernon Trail Builders. This trail is almost straight up for about 2/10 of a mile. I then took the Huff n Puff to Sidewinder and made my way to the top. Sidewinder has obviously been recently cleared and brushed. It looks good! There at the top I visited both viewpoints and chatted with a man from Snohomish County who was doing testing for radio interference. From the top, one can see Mount Baker and the San Juan Islands. From the south viewpoint, the Sound, The Olympics, Skagit Valley farm fields and much more is visible. I headed down Sidewinder briefly them DOWN Fred's trail. In the past, I've only been UP this very steep trail. Bad decision to go down Fred's trail. Even though it's short, it's very steep, like unsafely steep! Due to the slippery, eroded trail and lack of trekking poles, I ended up letting my big dog (who was slipping and sliding himself) go down ahead of me so we didn't kill each other and I slid down on my butt while he watched and occasionally ran up and back down. Once down to a relatively flat area, where multiple trails converge, we took a break, I dusted myself off and Ruger had some water. From this junction, we took Bonnie & Clyde trail to the hair pin turn on the road, walked the road briefly, picked up the Laz E Boy trail all the way back to the gate, the. Walked the road to the car. The trails are in great shape. No water available on these trails. Lots of people out hiking today. Some trails are multi-use and others are for hikers only. I generally don't get sore, but the two steep trails did a number on my knees for the rest of the day! Thank goodness for ibuprofen! 5.12 miles in 2+ hours

My wife and i hiked about 6.3 miles of these trails starting about 9am with our little bichon. We didn't see a lot of people on the trail surprisingly for a Saturday morning. Maybe half a dozen total. We started at the Nature Trail and stayed left on Lay-Z-Boy, Lower Surfer's Way and Down South. Then we hit Taylors Trail and took a left on the West Loop for a bit of elevation gain (400 ft maybe?). We ended up following Bonnie & Clyde's Trail to Ginny's and up to the summit. We went down Ridge Trail and from the road went out the same way we went in. Another great day for hiking, surprisingly warm and sunny for end of February. Dog was in heaven, he loves it when we can take him with us.

This is a nice park that is part of Mt Vernon. Only an hour from Everett, you can have that second cup of coffee and still get in a hike. We cobbled together a 6 mile hike with some good uphill and downhill. A nice selection of trails are built here on the little hill, thanks to the volunteer group, Mt Vernon Trail Builders. You can tell lots of lovin' went in to the work, the trails are in great shape and are well signed. Most of the trails are multi use, with a few hiker only trails that are more narrow and steep. We started out at the east parking lot and hiked up to the viewpoints, making a long loop. Most of the trail is thru the woods, old second growth, with the remnants of large old growth, long gone to the mill. This land was donated to Mt. Vernon in 1924. The viewpoint was once a fire lookout, then a lookout for enemy aircraft in WW2. There are great views out to the Skagit Valley and across the Sound to the Olympics (which we didn't see today). From the eastern viewpoint, you can see Mt Baker (not today) and the Chuckanuts. I took a picture of the map at the TH and posted it. There are portapotties located at the top and at some of the various THs.

This is not a 9 mile hike, it's a bunch of tiny hikes that add up to almost 9 miles. I drove an hour here and was more than a little upset when I found this out.