Food-Forgetting February Frolic

On Saturday, I hiked the Lime Kiln Trail near Granite Falls, one of my favorite winter hikes. Although the mud puddles can be a nuisance this time of year, the hike is typically snow-free, and the forest and river are quite pretty. A bit of a surprise came during the hike, however: when we got hungry and reached into our packs for a snack, we were dismayed to discover that we had forgotten most of the food we had laid out for the day, including our lunch food! Thankfully, the Like Kiln Trail is not very strenuous, so we were able to complete the hike with the modest snacks that had made it into the pack. Anything longer, or with substantial elevation gain, and we might have had to turn back.

First, a view down over the South Fork Stillaguamish River, framed by mossy bigleaf maple trunks and licorice ferns. I've tried to photograph this particular view, with the little stream in the distance, on prior visits without success. All of the salmonberry in the understory can make the the view from the trail pretty busy. I'm glad I was able to make it work this year. F/18.

Next, another view down to the South Fork Stillaguamish, this time through denser woods. The color of the river is a bit washed out and almost overexposed, but there's enough of it visible that it still works. I like how the horizontal orientation of the river contrasts with the vertical lines of the tree trunks. F/16.

Finally, Hubbard Creek framed by mossy forest. Despite how small the creek is in the frame, I like this overall. The creek is still clearly discernible, and the green moss stands out nicely. F/18, 6 seconds.

My favorite part of the hike is probably the turnaround point, where the trail drops down to a rocky river beach. I tried some pictures there, but didn't end up with anything that improved upon my photography from that spot in prior years.

I'll end the post with one from last weekend's visit to the Green River Natural Area near Enumclaw (O'Grady Park) that didn't make it into that blog post. I'm not sure why; it's a decent image. A red cedar is in the foreground. O'Grady Park, like most of the forested parks in the area, is definitely second-growth, but there are still a few reasonably sized cedars scattered throughout. F/18.