I met a little cutie this morning on the trail. I kept a respectful distance and she was kind enough not to immediately run away.
I drove to my usual Rattlesnake Lake upper parking lot and, after going up and down Cedar Butte again (trying to get back in shape after 5 weeks of very little hiking) I decided to check out a side trail – it is on the north side of Iron Horse just a bit west of the western end of the Boxley Creek bridge – and I had a fun time from there.
This trail led north and west and meandered through the forest past a nice pond. It was a great alternative way to and from Cedar Butte. It hit the Sno Valley trail a bit north of Rattlesnake Lake so I walked down to the Cedar River Interpretive Center (http://www.seattle.gov/util/EnvironmentConservation/Education/CedarRiverWatershed/CedarRiverEducationCenter/index.htm). I headed back north via the Lake Trail for awhile and then cut over to Rattlesnake Lake. From there I decided to walk all the way around:
I was there and there were two kayakers but the place was otherwise empty. I did encounter a family of geese on the trail so I slithered by to the sound of hissing and skated away.
Along the way around I noticed a stark reminder of what we humans do vs. what nature does. We don’t look good.
Rattlesnake Lake is man-made. Where the lake is there used to be forest. Right now the water is low and look at all the stumps; and notice the beautiful mountain view beyond the stumps:
But if you look in the right place around there it is nice:
And back by the interpretive center I noticed they are doing a project to replace intrusive weeds with native growth. How nice for this area!
Finally, back at the car I noticed I had the lot to myself. A first time for coming back – a slightly cool summer weekday is what it takes, I guess – but it was a very nice and pleasant ramble.
