Happy National Take a Hike Day and boy was it a gloomy, rainy one. We spent a week trying to decided where to go and looked at forecast and we had a few options but with the rain we knew we wanted to go somewhere without a creek for a trail ✔️ lots of tree coverage ✔️ beautiful forest ✔️ and somewhere we enjoy ✔️ 

This time of year can be hard for hiking. There aren’t many trees left with beautiful leaves, the mushrooms are fading, no good views and the rain can be a little sad and dreary. But as we set out on our rainy day hike, we found the beauty in a very green, moss covered forest. Mushrooms that are hiding in logs. The rhythmic sound of the rain, pattering on the leaves. Then Looking down to see that there were plenty of bright yellow leaves on the trail.  We saw a few hikers and wished them a great Happy Hiking Day. 
we started at the main parking lot, hiked Hop Connector to Up Only to Service Road to Down Drop. Went to both lookout towers and then down via Huff & Puff and Rooty. The trails are damp and have lots of leaf litter. Other than that, the trails we went on were all in great shape and no wet feet, even in the rain.

So yesterday when I wanted to get out for a hike in the less than ideal conditions, I figured I would try my hand at not using my car to do so.  It was a high avalanche forecast in the mountains and a short window without rain.  That meant something short and sweet, and in the Puget Sound area.  How about Little Mountain Park in Mount Vernon?

I knew there was a bus that ran from the Everett Station to the Skagit Station.  I could visit a few places I like in downtown Mount Vernon and get the most of my trip. So after some research on their website, I had my route planned out and I was ready to go.

For my journey, I would need either cash or the Umo app since Skagit Transit does not accept the ORCA pass I already have.  It was pretty simple to download and add $10 to.  It looked like my trip would be about $6 but I decided better safe than sorry I hadn't added enough.  All the incentive to take a second trip, right?

My first step was to walk about .9 miles to the bus stop at 14th and Broadway in North Everett to get on the 90x bus from Skagit Transit.  It starts at the Everett Transit Station if that is the closest stop for you.

It took about 35 minutes to arrive at the Skagit Station in Mount Vernon, not bad for a bus ride (it had only one stop in south Mount Vernon).  Because I had a few stops to make before my hike where I knew I would pick up some mud, I left the station and walked downtown a few blocks away.  I needed some supplies at Wild Fibers Yarn shop and I also wanted to check out the new owners at what was once Shambala Bakery and Bistro but is now Union Block Bistro.

After enjoying a gluten free late breakfast, I walked back to the transit station and got on the 206 bus that took me up the hill from downtown towards Little Mountain Park.  The closest stop is at Jefferson Elementary School on E. Blackburn Rd and I arrived about 12:20pm as drizzle began to start.  Full on rain was in the forecast at 4pm so I hoped to be down off the mountain and back to the transit station by then.

The park was still 1 mile away along Blackburn and then Little Mountain Road, there was sidewalk briefly and then just shoulder to walk the rest of the distance to where the park entrance is. The shoulder is wide in some places, not as much in others. I was glad I had my neon yellow bike rain jacket on. I would say if only counting my walking time since leaving my house and transit time, it was roughly 1.5 hours.  Not too bad since I got some knitting done on the bus ride!

Now at Little Mountain, I used the facilities at the lower parking lot where the mountain bike course is and then took the Hop Connector up to the Rooty Trail. My first goal was to reach the summit so my route was Rooty to Up Only to Drop Down to the North Viewpoint Trail.  Yes, my heart was pumping because Up Only and Drop Down do not mess around.

I reached the summit at 2 miles and 1 hour since getting off the bus.  The clouds were low so no exciting views but it felt great to have made the summit without the use of my car today!

After using the facilities near the summit, I dropped back down on North Viewpoint to Ginny's Trail to connect with Bonnie and Clyde for a swoop along the west contour towards the south side of the mountain. I briefly contemplated a thru hike to the south trailhead but didn't relish the idea of pavement walking along Hickok and Blodgett so I stayed on Bonnie and Clyde, hopped on the Ridge Trail to avoid the squiggles at the end and then down to the road switchback.

It was about this time I checked in the Umo app to see which bus I might be able to catch if I walked out now.  It looked like I could leave and get out just in time for the 2:42 bus.  Turns out Umo overestimated my hiking speed out of the park.  From here I walked the road briefly to get back on the Rooty Trail and retrace my steps out of the park.  All told, I got 2 hours of hiking in on the mountain.

It was then another mile back to the bus stop.  This was a little exciting because I only had 20 minutes to catch the bus that was coming or it would be another 30 minutes until the next one.  I may have done a little jogging at the end but it turned out the bus was about 5 minutes late so I had plenty of time.  This is one of the challenges, I suppose, of using transit.  Timing your routes on the trail so that you make it back to the bus stop roughly about when it coming by so you don't have to stand around.

My trip ended up costing me $5 total because the fare cap for local rides is $3 so once I paid $2 on the 90x and $1 on the 206, it didn't charge me for the 206 ride back to Skagit Station.  The fare cap for the 90x (regional routes) was $6 so it was another $2 to take the 90x back home.  The entire trip took me about 7 hours (1.5 hours was spent downtown) and was about 8 miles of walking/hiking.  If I had driven, the entire day would have been about 5.5 hours but only 4 miles of hiking.  But no knitting on the bus!

Last hike of the year! We ended the year with a 3.25 mile loop at Little Mountain. Hike number 122 for us. The trails were wet as it had just rained with a few muddy sections on Lazboy. Up only was slick from mud and wet leaves. The rain made all the moss extra vibrant green. Lots of hikers out and about enjoying the day. Blue skies above us but clouds all around. Perfect day to spend out together. Took us 25 minutes to reach the top going up UP Only and Down drop and then took our time going down ridge line ->mossy rock ->uppers surfers way->over the top->la z boy. 

Today is my daughters 7th birthday and she really wanted to take everyone hiking with her on her favorite trail Up Only. The trail is wet and slick from wet leaves in a lot of places. We did slip once on way down rooty on a wet root. Rain when we started the hike and sun when we finished. The forest on this side of the park is my favorite. It’s so lush and green.