Great success! We crossed off the last item on our Seattle To Do List this afternoon!
Enjoy fresh salmon.Spend some time at our favorite Pike Place Market shops.Spend as much time outside as possible.Race in Seattle with Bo and Amy.- Break out our hiking boots and enjoy some Northwest scenery.
We woke up with aching muscles after yesterday’s tubing adventures and were a bit slow moving due to a early morning police siren thanks to some idiots trying to steal an ATM at 4am from the market across the street.
After a cup of coffee and a relaxing breakfast we donned our age old hiking boots and headed the trails.
Amy and Ryan have done quite a bit of hiking over the past year in Seattle and have discovered a great website to reference for new hiking trails, Weekend Hike. We knew that we wanted the trailhead to be less than an hour away and only could handle a 4-5 mile hike if it was going to include uphill portions. Within seconds Amy and I found a great hike on the website around Cougar Mountain. The trailhead was only 30 minutes away but was packed by the time we arrived. Note to locals, get there early if you don’t want to risk not having a parking place.
Our planned hike was supposed to be around 5 miles round-trip including an intense 1.5 steep start before a gentle, lush hike after that. 
The trail was surrounded by ferns, lush evergreens, moss, and wood bridges. The sun shined brightly through the trees for about 1/2 the trail, forcing us to shed our jackets and enjoy a few water breaks.
Due to a few wrong turns our hike ended up being a little under 6 miles and took us around 2 hours including a few breaks. We were all very happy that we wore actual hiking boots versus trail shoes or running shoes due to the steep inclines. Having the ankle support made me feel far more confident along the trail and we finished happy and injury free.
Hiking in the Northwest was a perfect way to round out our trip to Seattle. It’s been wonderful to experience so many different aspects of the city on this trip and get some much needed sunshine and fresh air!
Question: What’s the longest hike you’ve ever done or what’s your favorite hike?
I loveeed hiking the Swiss Alps! The next time I go I will have to bring some hiking boots. It was rough.
Oh yes I loved the Alps too! I traveled there 10 years ago for 18 days!!
We spent time in Seattle in June (or “Junuary” – it was still a bit cold and rainy on some days), and it was so great to be in the Northwest. I was sad that we did not get in a hike to an alpine lake – all of those trails still had too much snow – but we did get in a few nice hikes, so I shouldn’t complain too much! Still, I love alpine lake hikes – it’s such a treat to climb up to a lake that’s surrounded by granite walls. Pear Lake in Sequoia was one of my all-time favorites trips, probably because we spent the night and were able to watch the sunset.