Little kids have no respect for their elders on New Year's Day. Or pretty much any day, for that matter. The monkeys started rolling out of their beds far too early after we were up far too late. We futzed around the house with breakfast, football, and finally got into the cars around 10am. Good thing we didn't have far to go.
Starting in 2008 (remember that long-ago decade called the "oughts"?) we've held to the tradition of dragging the poor kids to some place on the Sammamish Plateau for a New Year's Day hike. In 2008 we went to the Hazel Wolf Wetland Preserve and last year we wound up in Soaring Eagle Park even though we meant to hike the Beaver Lake Preserve. After last year's minor mix-up it's probably no surprise that we returned to the same trailhead to hike around the Beaver Lake Preserve.
It's a short loop at only 1.2 miles and completely wooded except where it crosses the road, borders a golf course, and passes through one tiny "meadow" that is code for "undeveloped lot that was purchased from the owners before they could build on it." There was little drama, but lots of fun chasing Henry down the trail and herding him back, jumping off logs (ok, a little drama there), and filming the kids as through for a documentary about wild creatures (not too far off the mark).
There were a ton more cars when we returned to the trailhead, though we saw few people other than a couple of crazy runners on the trail. Next year I'm unsure where we'll wind up, but I guess we have a couple of months to plan yet.
Total distance was about 1.2 miles with 200 feet of gain.
(Oh, and if you're wondering, this is hike #1 for 2010. Not that I'm counting or anything...)
