mercer slough and pretzel tree trail

Sunshine is here! Okay, well, there still are some rainy days, but I feel less like complaining. We've taken advantage of the sun and gone on a few hiking trails recently.

I have to admit, this year is a little bit difficult for us in terms of hikes. Sam is too big to ride in a backpack, but he is too small to walk very far distances. This summer we're only able to go on extremely short, easy hikes. (That being said, do any locals have some good recommendations for such hikes? We know our options are extremely limited this summer.)

Admittedly, going on short, easy hikes isn't my favorite type of hiking. I hardly feel like I'm getting any exercise. And, obviously, easy hikes do not include great vistas or waterfalls, because the trails have hardly any elevation gain. Boo. But at the very least, I hope we're instilling a love of nature (and setting a hiking tradition for future summers) with Sam this year.

That being said, here are two new hikes (walks?) that we have done this summer.

A few weeks ago my friend and I went for a walk around Mercer Slough. We started our walk near the Mercer Slough Environmental Education Center, thinking that there would be some fun activities for kids in the Visitor's Center. There wasn't too much to see in the center right now, although there is a promise for some new interactive displays in the distant future.

The trails right next to the center aren't very long, so we walked down to the Bellefields Nature Park trails, since the trailhead is just down the street from the center. The trail is nice and fairly shaded, but there are lots of mosquitoes because of the nearby water (see picture above, on left). I don't think I would do this trail again without bug repellant.

Today we went on the perfect hike for Sam. I'd recommend the Pretzel Tree Trail (Squak Mountain State Park) for anyone with a 3-5 year old. This trail is an interactive trail with little signs that tell a story about a field mouse. Sam loved the story. He would excitedly look for the next sign down the trail so that we could "turn the page of the story" (his words). The trail has no elevation gain, but is in a really beautiful setting with gorgeous trees. You can see the "pretzel tree" behind Sam's head in the image on the right. I know we'll come back to hike this trail again.

There are some other trailheads at the same location as the Pretzel Tree Trail. Since the interactive trail only took about 20-30 minutes to complete with Sam, we decided to hike up the Center Peak trail (toward the summit) for a little while. It seemed like a really nice hike (although too long and steep for Sam). Hopefully we'll come back another time. Here is the trail map to Squak Mountain, for anyone who is interested.

I hope we go back and in this area again soon. The trails were well maintained and yet relatively isolated. We only met a few people on the trail this morning, which is surprising for a sunny Saturday. We passed the Poo Poo point trailhead on our drive out to Squak Mountain (down Issaquah-Hobart Road), and it was overflowing with cars. I'm glad we didn't go there today.