Photo Journal Skagit and Beyond

  Hike stats Distance: 2.5 miles round-trip (road walk) Elevation gain: ~350 ft Difficulty: Easy Some waterfalls wait for summer to show off. Gilligan Creek Falls is not one of them. I went in mid-November after a week of cold rain, and the falls were absolutely roaring.   Getting there & parking   Drive east on Highway 20 to Sedro Wooley and turn right  onto Highway 9  south.  Turn right onto South Skagit Highway and drive for about 5 miles.  Turn right onto Old Day Creek Road. Drive 1.0 mile on Old Day Creek Road (paved, then good gravel). Look for the second gated logging road  (the first one is usually overgrown and blocked with brush). The correct gate is wide, obvious, and has PUD Water related signs. NO restroom. Park along the shoulder near the gate (room for 3–4 cars if everyone parks tight). Tip: Highway 9 North → Old Day Creek Road route is the fastest and most straightforward way from Everett or Marysville. Walk up the gated r...

Pine & Cedar Lakes   Trail Stats Distance: 5 miles round-trip Elevation gain: 1,400 ft Highest point: 1,600 ft Difficulty: Moderate (one steep mile, then easy) Time: 2–3 hours Best season: Year-round — fall is unbeatable Dogs: Allowed on leash   The Hike: A Perfect Fall Morning in the Chuckanuts I started up the wide, soft old roadbed and felt the burn right away — the first mile climbs a steady 12–15 % through second-growth Douglas-fir and hemlock. Thick duff cushioned every step, and big-leaf maple leaves the size of dinner plates drifted down.   After a mile the trail narrowed into rooty Chuckanut singletrack — moss-draped rocks and short wooden puncheon bridges every few hundred yards over the seeps.   At mile 1.6 the grade finally eased. I took the left at the signed junction and rolled gently southeast. Pine Lake hit like a postcard. The water was mirror-still. Two fisherman showed me a rainbow-cutthroat hybrid they had caught, one of several, thick ...