Yoh! Hike at Swan Creek Park

Just 3 people and 1 dog today on the hike at Swan Creek Park, but we had a great time.  What a gorgeous day!  It really feels like spring is coming after all.  We started at the Pioneer Way parking lot, which was mostly empty when we arrived at 10am.  No bathroom there.  We started on the Swan Creek trail and walked to the end where it met up with the Canyon Rim trail, then took that back to form a loop using one of the connector trails.  We got a little bit lost on our way back (due to some faulty info from a mountain biker), so it added a little extra mileage.  In all my hiking app said we did 4.57 miles.  Some mud on the trail in areas and one big tree across the trail that we had to shimmy under, but otherwise the trails were well maintained.  Although the total elevation gain is less than 400 feet, we were going up then down then up some more, so we got quite the workout.   We finished a bit after noon and the parking lot was full then.  

So. Many. Stairs.

Teresa made it to the top!

Yoh! Hike at Pt. Defiance Park

This morning we completed our second Yoh! hike at Pt. Defiance park.  We began at the parking lot at Owen Beach then headed uphill to the beginning of the Outside Loop Trail.  It started off extremely windy and cold, but luckily once we reached the trail we were sheltered which made the hike much more enjoyable.  In all the 5 of us (plus 3 dogs) completed 4.72 miles (per the MapMyHike app). The trail was in pretty good shape, but you could still see a bit of damage from the recent snow including several blow downs both on and off trail.  There were tons of people out enjoying the sunshine!  It was a really fun day!

Scott with Jerry.  Not sure how I missed getting a photo of Brenda!

These crazy tree huggers!

Yoh! Hike at Dash Point State Park

For our first Yoh! hike of 2019 we had planned on hiking the Licorice Fern Trail at Cougar Mountain, but there was still too much snow.  Instead the 3 of us headed towards the water to Dash Point State Park.  We hiked a total of 4.28 miles in a little under two hours.  The trails were in fair shape; we did run into some snow & mud and a few blow downs that were easily stepped over.  We were surprised at how many people were out & about.  It was not the warmest of days, but I guess everyone has a bit of cabin fever these days.  We stumbled across a giant funnel, but I could not find anything about it on the internet.  I would love to find out about its history.  This is a great park with lots of trails & interesting bridges, clean bathrooms & access to the beach.  You should check it out if you get a chance!

We started our hike climbing a giant hill to this viewpoint.

Lots of different trails to take.  We covered quite a few of them!

Teresa with Cyrus and Aspen.

So many cool bridges to cross. 

The boys were glad to get a drink and walk in the water.  

Yoh! hike to Mima Falls

It has been a while since the Yoh! group has gone hiking together.  I'm glad that several of us made it out this morning to do the hike at Mima Falls in the Capitol Forest.  It was warmer & dryer than expected, which is always a pleasant surprise.  6 people and 3 dogs hiked a total of about 4 miles out & back.   We encountered wildflowers, sunshine, lots of new growth, a snail, slugs,  mushrooms & way too much horse poop!  The trail was better signed than we had expected & very well maintained...except for the aforementioned horse poop.  It was relatively flat with just a few short hills to climb.  Once we got to the bridge over the falls we had to scamper down a little hill to the base, but it wasn't difficult or muddy.  We encountered way more people on our way back to the parking lot, so this is definitely a trail you'd want to hike early in the morning.  We didn't hear any gun fire from the range until we were nearly back to the car.  This trail is definitely worth doing since it's so close to Tumwater.

There is a large parking area (Discover Pass required) and surprisingly clean bathrooms.

First bridge crossing...the dogs were not interested in getting their photo taken. 

Water break for Cyrus & Aspen.

Second bridge crossing.

The 3rd bridge over the top of the falls.

 

A baby waterfall.

Group L to R: Michele, Tammy, Teresa, Susan, Gabby & Scott