This rainy Halloween afternoon, I took my dog on a celebratory walk north from our place to a) photograph fall colors, b) view halloween displays, c) hear what birds might be out, d) move under a pack, and e) reflect on winning two very special awards: the Mountaineers 2025 Service Award, org-wide recognition for one volunteer who goes above and beyond, and the Mountaineers Trip Reporter of the Year, with 76 in FY 2024-2025.

The weather was wet and cold and my raincoat, it turns out, is not waterproof, BUT we still managed a good 4.6 mile outing in 2:45 and heard or saw 10 bird species. Too early for trick-or-treaters but lots of nice displays.

SOUTH WOODS: There is some blow-down from last weekend's storm but the branches are small. One tree looks like it could use removal as it's pretty close to the east trail. And it looks like new wood chips are ready to add to the north area with fresh plantings.

HAMLIN PARK: The east parking lot is still closed, but the west bike trail is now accessible down to 155th - nice, wide, well-drained, and a welcome addition to keep dogs and pedestrians off the road. There is a very large puddle forming near the ball fields -- with all the leaves blown down it could be a clogged drain.

Similar to South Woods, no big blow downs, just smaller branches. We stuck to the cement trails as I had tennis shoes vs. my boots and they definitely are NOT waterproof. Guess I didn't plan my ramble very well, I just wanted to be out in nature.

My dog and I enjoyed a recovery day walk north from our home to Hamlin and South Woods Park, with a round trip of 4.7 miles in 100 minutes (2.8 mph). It was a beautiful afternoon and I was after birdsong and lengthening shadows.

The first surprise came when I saw the fence around the parking area due east of Hamlin Park. I was about to turn east to look for Little Free Libraries to salvage the walk, but if you go north toward the middle school, you can still access the park but they're doing some construction on the trails. 

We followed the White Posts for a while, meandering in solitude (couple of joggers and a few other dog walkers) to the western side of Hamlin but when we tried going south, we realized the west sidewalk is all locked down. So, we retraced our footsteps to the east and returned south a few blocks until we could enter South Woods Park.

The most significant birds of the 15 species we heard were a pair of bickering ravens and another pair of downy woodpeckers -- that late in the afternoon there wasn't too much going on with birds.

Both trails are in great shape including fresh gravel in South Woods and some new stairs. And fall colors in front of Shorecrest High School are at their peak; I was just hoping for more birdsong. My dog loved our outing so I'll take that for the win. And the lighting at 5:30 p.m. right now is pretty impressive.

#HiketheState

My dog and I enjoyed a midday birding walk. The 4.34-mile loop took us from North Seattle up to Hamlin Park, west through the park on wooded trails, and southward home again.

Inside the park, we heard 21 species of birds, including the brown creeper, raven, and purple finch. On the way there, we also had a Cooper's Hawk. The trails have been cleared of blow-down, but it will probably be many months before all the root balls and debris from the wind storms this past winter have been cleared.

The park was relatively quiet except for some middle-school students coming out for PE (or lunch), and a few dog walkers. One lady had her dog off the leash, but my dog got along fine with it. A very enjoyable, albeit chilly, afternoon walk.

I took my dog on a five-mile urban walk from our home that included Hamlin Park for at least two miles. The park was quiet except for dog walkers, a few strolling couples, a father pushing a baby carriage, and 6 fire vehicles doing training in the parking lot nearest to the cannons. 

We started on the east side and did a starburst meander pattern on paths exiting each of the north parts of the park, roughly following the white arrow posts as per the trail recommendations, then looped back on a large gravel path to include some stairs (I counted 131) and hills. We returned to the cannons to find the fire department training, so we exited west to continue on city streets back home.

Nice to go when I can hear the birds. We heard 12 species inside the park (16 on our walk to and from) including pine Siskins, a Pacific wren, and a Fox sparrow as the more unusual birds. I was impressed with the trails, only in one western meadow that is part of a restoration project did I see any puddles.

The trails are pretty spongey right now due to all the recent rain, so careful of your footing this autumn. I could feel my stress levels ebb away as I soaked in the fresh forest air and birdsong. So nice to have urban parks within walking distance that don't require gas to visit. I appreciate whoever has done trail maintenance in this area and intend to find out more about helping the city with the restoration project.

We had a nice picnic at the park, then took a short stroll around some of the trails. 

There were plenty of parking spaces available when we got to the park around 1:45 on a Sunday afternoon. There were fewer spaces when we left a little after 5, although I think that was mostly because there were a couple of bigger groups at the park (including a large party under the covered area and a LARP-ing group in the field). 

The restroom near the playground/parking lot was in good shape with soap and plenty of toilet paper. 

We had our picnic at a picnic table near a bunch of other tables in the trees next to the parking lot. It was pretty quiet. We were the only group there for the most part, except for a couple of folks who sat around for a little bit of time before leaving. 

We didn't explore all the trails in the trail network, but did do a small loop, and those trails were in good shape. Most of the trail network — on the north side of the park, at least — is at a higher elevation than the playfield, so there's a bit of a climb up there (but it's pretty mild/moderate, and quite short).

We encountered a couple of mountain bikers on the shared trails, but very few other people.