Tolt Pipeline Trail, Tolt-MacDonald Park — Wednesday, Apr. 9, 2008

Puget Sound and Islands > Seattle-Tacoma Area

Tolt-McDonald is one of King County's nicer parks, located near Carnation. There's a surprising amount of trail mileage there if you try out all of the different options. And no snow! When I stepped out of the car at the T-M parking lot, I noticed a strange sensation--a lack of biting arctic cold. With the temperature surging past 50 F, the air felt positively tropical. Could spring be finally here? One can surely dare to dream... After crossing the suspension bridge over the Snoqualmie River, I hiked the trail that climbs up to the Port Blakeley forestland on top of the plateau. This is a mountain bike playground, with trails going just about everywhere. I simply hiked the main road, a two mile loop mostly in forest and wetlands. The multitude of mountain bike ""single track"" trails will not interest most hikers. One exception is a short side trail that led me to an impressive viewpoint overlooking the Snoqualmie River Valley. Look for this trail at the southeast corner of the loop road, where it approaches the bluff. Careful students of the Footsore guides may have read about another vista point farther to the north, near the high point of the park, but this now has a lot of trees and not much of a view. After hiking the tree farm loop, I headed back down to the lowlands and did the two mile loop at the base of the bluff. This is a lovely trail, but muddy in places. Along the trail, trickling creeks tumbling down from the bluff provided a restful sound, and lots of new spring growth was sprouting up everywhere. Near the river was an area of lawn that serves as a walk-in campsite. Not seeing anyone around, I let my dog Lex loose for a little off-leash romp. He soon rushed around a clump of bushes, interested in something. I saw something blue behind the bushes and though, ""oh no a ranger's truck"". Now I was thinking that I was about to be busted for an off-leash dog. But when I came closer, the blue turned out to be a tipped over port-a-potti. And Lex was joyfully rolling in toilet paper scattered nearby. Bleh...dogs...who needs 'em? All in all, I walked about 5 miles.