I am planning three hikes next week, two of them fairly strenuous (up Zig Zag Trail) so I figured I would do something moderate today and save my legs for my solo attempt at Zig Zag on Tuesday.
And on the way to the trailhead, on SR202 between Snoqualmie and North Bend (North Bend is the town with the restaurant that was featured in the TV series ‘Twin Peaks’ – the restaurant is named Tweeds – and it is still there, still has pie and coffee) – anyway, there is a huge field where, periodically, a herd of elk gather. I have often seen them but pulling over to take a photo is not easy. The spot to park is very small and until today, there have been cars parked so I had to drive past.
But today it was empty and I pulled over and snapped some photos.
Cedar Butte trail was fine, no view at the top today. Nice forest along the way.
I took a different route back, via a side trail Derek and I spotted a couple of months ago. This trail runs along the south edge of Christmas Lake:
Looking forward to Zig Zag next week. I hope I can get all the way to the top. It could be covered in deep snow and, if so, I will go back down. The trail is very steep and narrow and not easy to navigate in the snow as Derek and I found out a few years ago.