Trip Report Roundup: Backpacking beaches, snowshoeing St. Helens, urban epics and quiet forest strolls

From stunning winter wonderlands to blowdown-spotting on forest roads, we love reading all about your adventures on trail, and it's been really exciting to see some new names and faces showing up in our trip reports. Enjoy the views, adventures, trail updates and useful tips on winter gear in trip reports we saw from brand-new trip reporters from these last few weeks. 

Been thinking about making an account and writing your first trip report? Don’t wait any longer — make a free account with us to start adding hikes to your My Backpack and post your first trip report. We’re looking forward to seeing where you’ve been! And: Once you write 5 trip reports, you'll get see a "5" trip-reports-written badge next to your screen name. You'll get a new one at different milestone trip report accumulations: 10, 15, 20, 25, 50 ... and more! 

ALKI TRAIL, FAUNTLEROY PARK, LINCOLN PARK

"The cold temperature kept me from sweating too much and inspired a brisk pace, but I recommend that my fellow winter hikers bring gloves and scarves to thwart the merciless wind blowing in from the sound."

adbleeker spent a whole Saturday afternoon trekking across the entire western edge of West Seattle, starting in Burien and ending at the water taxi pier.

They covered nearly 13 miles (check out the map in their trip report!) — along the way, they picked up a free scone at a food truck, got mildly lost at Roxbury Park, visited the Lincoln Park troll and Fauntleroy Park, walked alongside the beach on the Alki Trail and finished off the day with a large meal before heading home by taking the water taxi to downtown Seattle, then hopping on the bus back home. 

GARFIELD LEDGES

"The trail was a bit muddy at parts but the maintenance done on this trail by WTA and Mountains to Sound Greenway Trust is stellar!"

ChrisLiu, WTA board member, wrote his first trip report about his hike to Garfield Ledges on the Middle Fork Snoqualmie River, a trail that WTA and the Mountains to Sound Greenway Trust have spent a lot of time building and maintaining. Though the clouds didn’t allow for faraway views, they did make for that classic gloomy PNW sort of backdrop. 

FLORENCE PEAK VIA THE WEST BOUNDARY TRAIL

"The views from just shy of the summit were spectacular today! (This is my first trip report, please leave constructive feedback)"

evan_1 wrote a long and detailed trip report about their hike to Florence Peak via the West Boundary Trail. They had to contend with some pretty icy conditions near the top and chose to forgo the last 20 sketchy vertical feet at the top to stay safe (always a good decision!) — plus, they got the views they were hoping for from where they were. 

They asked for constructive feedback on their first trip report, and judging by the comments, folks found their report very helpful! 

SOUTH COAST WILDERNESS TRAIL - TOLEAK POINT

"We didn't see any trip reports about it before going so figured we'd give an update here for those in the future."

samjones spent the night at Toleak Point, getting to see a gorgeous beach sunset while there. The trip was really muddy, and they noted that the rope on the bluff climb before camp was gone, so it could be sketchy for those who rely on those ropes. Other than that, though, the trail was in good shape. They decided to write their first trip report after seeing no recent trip reports of the area — thanks, samjones! 

LOOKOUT MOUNTAIN FOREST PRESERVE

"Highlights were a massive grove of Douglas fir on the way back down, abundant sword fern and a very close hairy woodpecker foraging on the Doug fir bark."

Tenderfoot1959 hiked along the Rufus Creek and Leila June trails at the Lookout Mountain Forest Preserve, where they found plenty of quiet. They weren't able to make it to the overlook by the time it got dark, but they were still able to spend a lot of time enjoying the forest. They want to let other hikers know about the big potholes in the parking lot though! 

KESTNER HOMESTEAD - MAPLE GLADE

"The sky was cloudy but bright. Recent, light snowfall was apparent on the hills above the parking lot."

jstorm_57 took a hike on the Maple Glade trail at the Kestner Homestead at the start of the year and had the trail to themselves the whole day. They saw some damage from the recent storms, which luckily didn’t affect the trails themselves. jstorm_57 has since filed a couple more helpful trip reports for some Olympic Peninsula hikes, including a critical closure of Damon Point. 

BIG FOUR ICE CAVES

"I never write reports but talked to the ladies in the car parked in front of us and said it is something I always mean to do but never do. So here I am keeping my promise to them and myself of trying to do better and write reports."

Shellyf decided to write her first trip report on her hike to the Big Four Ice Caves near the start of the new year. It was a foggy day where she saw a few other hikers, some snow, a handful of blowdowns and incredible views. Since then, Shellyf has returned to the Big Four Ice Caves a few times and written up their experiences in more trip reports! 

JUNE LAKE

"Spikes definitely useful for most of the trail, there was patches where no snow was on the ground which made us and others have to carry our snowshoes.

drewthielen went on a snowshoeing adventure at June Lake on a clear bluebird day, where they got perfect views of Mount St. Helens. They didn't have to use their snowshoes until they got to the lake, but their microspikes were useful until that point. 

FORT EBEY STATE PARK

"It was a fun day, and perfect for an outdoor winter adventure."

Ambling Along explored the old batteries, bunkers and buildings at Fort Ebey State Park, which they think is a fun state park for hikers of all ages. They got cloudy (but not rainy) weather and hiked about 4 miles around on the Bluff Trail. Since then, they've hiked a couple of trails in Central Washington and filed trip reports on those hikes too. 

SILVER STAR MOUNTAIN

"I love Silver Star in all seasons and this hike didn't disappoint."

clarahikes ended up running into snow a couple of miles into their hike on Silver Star Mountain and the snow never let up. It was very clear weather so they got nice views of Mount St. Helens, Mount Hood and Mount Jefferson, and Mount Adams mostly covered by clouds. 

MELMONT GHOST TOWN

"Mother Nature blessed us with sunshine and unexpected precipitation: a rain shower, hail, and finally, light snow."

James E took their pup, Moritz, to Melmont Ghost Town, where they got to experience quite a diverse array of precipitation. They enjoyed the lovely forest, but also noted some broken glass around to be aware of if you also decide to check out the ghost town. They've since taken Moritz out a couple more times out on trail and written up trip reports for those trips too. 

SPRING LAKE / LAKE DESIRE PARK - ECHO MOUNTAIN 

"It’s a fairly steep ascent for a beginner like me, but intermediate or advanced hikers could probably scuttle up with ease."

koribe had a quiet Friday almost to themselves on a steep climb to the top of Echo Mountain at Spring Lake - Lake Desire Park. The sun was shining and they got some nice peek-a-boo views through the trees. They've since hiked a couple of other trails in the Puget Sound area and shared trip reports on those too. 

BECKLER PEAK

"It will take a serious chainsaw to clear."

ellen83 wrote a very short and sweet trip report on Beckler Peak, which is sometimes exactly what folks need to know — a big blowdown was blocking the road to the trailhead. They wanted to let everyone know the tree was still there (another trip reporter had shared that the tree had fallen a few days earlier).

No worries though, everyone; the tree has since been cleared (another trip reporter has let us know)! 

SULTAN RIVER CANYON TRAIL

"Nice and quiet!"

JennaRae walked through a winter wonderland on the Sultan River Canyon Trail, where the trail was overall in good condition but they had to scramble over a few fallen trees. They also had to cross some slippery water crossings, but the beautiful snowy landscape made it all worth it! 

We hope you'll write your first trip report on WTA.org if you haven't already! Create a free account to save hikes to your My Backpack to reference later and write trip reports. It's a great way to help other hikers know what conditions to expect on their next hike and to preserve your own hiking memories down the line.