Location: Seattle.
Length: More than a mile.
Level of difficulty: Flat-to-moderate grass and gravel paths.
By Cathy McDonald | January 6, 2005
Hike of the Week
Hiking in the mountains becomes a challenge this time of year, but the desert lands to the east are just as special in the cold months as in spring, and Ginkgo Petrified Forest State Park near Vantage is an excellent introduction.
True, winter days are short and the mountain passes can be harrowing, but the park is open year-round and is only about a two-hour drive from Seattle. Get a pass report and an early start, take warm clothing, field guides and head over Snoqualmie Pass for a different kind of hike.
By Karen Sykes | November 25, 2004
It was raining so hard the swamp was overflowing.
We were hiking with umbrellas, which seemed like prudent self-defense when my wife, our daughter, her sixth-grade friend and I left the car at road's edge during a December deluge near Lake Quinault Lodge. Balancing bumbershoots like tightrope walkers, we edged around boot-sucking puddles where the trail was rapidly merging with surrounding marsh.
A squishy quarter-mile paid off as we clambered across a wooden bridge inches above a rain-pocked pool and got our first clear look at the base of the world's largest Sitka spruce.
By Brian J. Cantwell | February 2, 2003
Of all the fascinating trees that grow in the Pacific Northwest -- among them the colossal Douglas fir, the broad-limbed bigleaf maple and the enchanting western red cedar -- none is so curious as the larch.
By Greg Johnston | October 17, 2002
The "Sunday drive" is an institution made for fall, when nature's palette suddenly goes eccentric and roadside leaves take on jewelry-shop colors like ruby red and burnished gold. October is the peak month for Northwest road trips. Here is one of our favorites.
By Carol Pucci
Seattle Times travel writer
By Carol Pucci | October 10, 2002
To visit the Hoh Rain Forest in the Olympic National Park is one of those special Pacific Northwest experiences.
A big part is the change in environment that occurs on the 19-mile Upper Hoh Road, which heads due east into the rain forest from U.S. Route 101, about 13 miles south of Forks. Like few places on Earth, you travel from a marine coastal environment to a temperate rain forest in a matter of minutes.
By Jeff Larsen | July 25, 2002
"Oh!"
It was the gasp of the connoisseur confronted with perfection.
"The tupelos," said Sarah Skamser, horticulture instructor at South Seattle Community College. "They're just starting to turn!"
In no time, "they'll be a shocking red," Skamser added as she drove her small Nissan through the Washington Park Arboretum, accompanied by a reporter, fellow college instructor Van Bobbitt and a king-size black dog, Max, who panted heavily and looked out the window, too.
By Nancy Bartley | October 11, 2001
· Norwegian and red maples early color
· Liquid amber mid-October
· Black walnut early color
· Larch late color
· Dogwood midseason
· Golden rain tree early to midseason
· Sumac late in season
· Kwansan cherry midseason
· Flame ash midseason
University of Washington
· Wide variety of deciduous trees turning throughout the season; pick up a tree guide at campus kiosk.
Seattle Pacific University
October 11, 2001
Take a Walk
Location: Burton, Vashon Island.
Length: More than a mile of trails.
Level of difficulty: Flat to gently sloping dirt trails (muddy after rains).
By Cathy McDonald | June 14, 2001
Take a Walk
Location: Everett.
Length: About a quarter-mile of trails.
Level of difficulty: Flat to moderate dirt/bark trails (slightly muddy after rains).
By Cathy McDonald | May 31, 2001
