Hoofin' It on the Whitehorse~

After the grand-kids left with their parents, Butch & I decided to go ahead & hike the Whitehorse Trail.  We started at Haller Park & walked over the Trestle.  Looking up - we were thrilled to see the Osprey now in place!

Osprey sits atop the Haller Trestle

 Many thanks to Sarah Arney, for spearheading the effort, the Arlington Arts Council & our own Centennial Trail Coalition for contributing the funds to help with the purchase & mounting for the installation of the beautiful Osprey.  What a wonderful work by artist Dan Brown that is now permanently perched on top of the Haller Trestle!

We headed to Resilience Arch & admired the new bricks that are much higher quality with deep etching that will hold up to the elements.  From there - we were on the ballast rock of the old rail line.

On the Trail~

 Such an absolutely gorgeous day - walking along the river was so enjoyable.  We were about a half-mile out when we saw bikes coming toward us!  At first I thought it had to be horsemen - I'd Never seen bikes on this trail!  Too much heavy rock!  But no - it was indeed two men on bikes!

All the way from Darrington!

I am literally 100% sure that these two are the first to have traveled this trail point-to-point!  With only three bridges left to be decked, they had those to detour around on the highway - which was challenging.  Otherwise - it was the rock that made the journey a long one!

Slide Area

Our next surprise - the area of trail that was impacted by the small mud slide, was completely cleared away!  (Using the word small, in comparison to the horrible slide that is foremost in our memories.)  Not at all small when it comes to the man hours that it took to clear all the broken trees & mud away.  Many thanks to Snohomish County Parks & our hard working Park Rangers!

Views of the Stillaquamish~

Throughout this part of the trail, it's easy to take your time, take in the fresh air & appreciate the beauty of the Pacific Northwest.

Almost to Cloverdale~

Butch wanted to continue on to Cloverdale & see the new survey work.  I'm hopeful this is preliminary in preparation for the repair & completion of this section, so critical to everyone looking forward to enjoying the west portion near Arlington.

Interior of the barn roof~

 We met the property managers of this amazing place, originally part of the tree farm properties.  Then operated as a nursery - at least the year I first went through this area.  It was a thrill to be invited in to see it.  The owner has future plans to restore the barn which already sports a new roof!

Up in the loft - was the surprise of the day :-)  Just too crazy fun & can you imagine the sound - especially with the wood acoustics of the barn?  The remaining old barns in this area are such an asset to our rapidly urbanizing landscape.  Private property owners wise enough to know this & preserve them - deserve our thanks.

North Fork of the Stillaquamish - toward Arlington

Beautiful from either direction~

In sight of the Arch~

I didn't have my GPS, so still need to check my records, but should have the distance recorded from a ride.  Round-trip was probably about 7-miles :-)  About half way back I thought of a quote from "A Knights Tale" - Chaucer:  "To trudge: the slow, weary, depressing yet determined walk of a man who has nothing left in life except the impulse to simply soldier on." 

My feet were speaking volumes by the time we got back to the park :-)