My grand quest is to be able to hike every day. In order to do that I have to find at least one hike that does not require a long drive. I thought I found just the thing yesterday when, on a walk near Blythe Park in Bothell, I noticed a really long, steep hill. I went home and looked on a topo map.
The hill leads to the Tolt Pipeline Trail, which runs from Bothell (right where I entered the trail today) all the way to Carnation, about 30 miles. I have always hiked a portion of this trail in Woodinville, going up Heart Attack Hill and beyond, for an out-and-back of 7 miles.
Today I went back to Blythe and went up the hill. Whew! This one is steep. You gain about 465 feet in just under .4 mile. I got to the Pipeline Trail and followed it as far as I could. It ran out near the 405 freeway and, apparently, picks up again on the other side.
So, next week, I will explore the Tolt starting from the other side of the freeway to see where that segment ends (and, from the other direction, begins) so I can go all the way from Bothell to Woodinville and back. I estimate that it would be about 11 miles with several nice, steep hills. And I would then have a new conditioning hike I could do over and over, without driving myself nuts with all the driving and our budget busted with the price of gas.