Suburban Hiking

The Puget Sound area is one of the best places in the country to access great outdoor activities without even leaving town.

We took L for his first hike recently, and we didn't have to venture further than the north end of Lake Washington. We stopped at St. Edwards Park, just north of Kirkland, on a gray Sunday morning to get in a short walk before meeting up with family.

St. Edwards Park is one of those incredible resources that is mostly unknown outside its local community. For those of us who grew up within a five-mile radius, we have fond memories of attending birthday parties at the park's swimming pool, participating in cross country races that crisscrossed the park's many trails and watched friends play in recreation soccer games.

The park is very popular with trail runners and mountain bikers, but it's also a great place to take a hike, and the trails are surprisingly challenging. We chose a random path that looked like it headed in the direction of the water and took off down a nicely maintained trail. After just a couple of minutes we felt like we were up in the Cascades on a true wilderness hike. We passed only one other family on the way while we enjoyed the forest which is thick with old, very tall trees.

After stopping briefly at the lake to feel the temperature of the water (warm!), we found a different trail that promised to lead us back up in less than a mile.

L woke up from his nap in the Ergo at that point, but he was quiet as he took in all the still, green surroundings.

I think we'll be doing a lot more suburban hiking.

Links:
St. Edwards State Park