Another beautiful fall day. 7.5 mile hike from the western (I-90 exit 27) side of Rattlesnake Mountain.
I took the forested trail all the way to Grand Prospect but took the service road shortcut on the way down. This little section is outside the forest and has a fairly nice northern view.
This is a moderately steep hike – about 2,400 feet of gain – and, once past Stan’s Overlook at the 1.9 mile mark, the forest becomes very nice. You can see it sprouting up in front of you just past Stan’s:
One note about this hike now, they have created a fairly large set of mountain bike trails. Here is the sign, right near the Snoqualmie Point trail head:
There is very little conflict between the hiking trails and the biking trails, but the parking lot now overflows (I got there just after it opened this morning and got a primo spot) and there are so many people riding bikes in the lot (even though there is a nice bike trail just outside the lot) that you have to be really careful driving out.
A few of the bikers appeared to be surprised that, while riding a bike through a large lot filled with cars, that there were cars driving around.
Whatever, it was a nice hike, a good workout and all around were the reminders that winter is on the way.