christopher575

I got a late start heading out on Friday, but I was fine with taking a short walk because I had an appointment to get my car detailed and had already decided that I'd also walk while that was being taken care of. No point in sitting around in a shop when I could be out enjoying a walk in a new area.

The first walk, a climb to the top of the gulch. 3.33 miles in 1:03, 7,146 steps, 394ft gain.

Yesterday's first awesome walk, 3.33 miles in 1:03, 7,146 steps, 394ft gain

The second walk, a big loop in Mukilteo which began in a business park and ended up taking me around a golf course. 4.73 miles in 1:24, 10,172 steps, 129ft gain.

Yesterday's second awesome walk, 4.73 miles in 1:24, 10,172 steps, 129ft gain

I chose the satellite view to show the major differences between where I started the walk and where I ended up. Turns out, the route I created on the fly was perfect. They told me the car would be done around 2:15, and I got there about ten minutes after that. They pulled the car out and started vacuuming as I approached, and I had just enough time to drink a cup of water and use their bathroom.

That loop I walked was big enough that it never really felt like I turned around. I knew where I was going because I checked the map on my phone frequently, but it was still pretty disorienting to arrive back at the main road without it feeling like I'd ever made the full circle.

Saturday, as always, was my day off, and I was ready to head out this morning long before I actually could. It was the kind of night where I woke up a bunch of times, but it didn't really bother me. Sometime around 4:45, Steve was pawing at my door, so I let him in and we snuggled until he started acting like a brat. At that point, I got up, geared up, and headed out. It was still pretty dark, but I knew it'd be fine if I started in the streets.

I was going to park at the regular spot at the bottom of the gulch, but I saw as I pulled up that someone in a truck had just pulled in. I didn't feel like some creepy encounter in the dark, so I drove up to the spot where I often enter the gulch from the West. I'd been wanting to go up the rusty car trail again, so parking there meant that could be the last part of the walk.

Today's awesome walk, 6.88 miles in 2:34, 14,800 steps, 621ft gain

6.88 miles in 2:34, 14,800 steps, 621ft gain

It'd been a while since I climbed up through the Eastern portion to the ballfields. It's been a few days since it rained, so I decided to go for it today. It was nice, but now that fall is well underway, it's very different. Tons of dead leaves everywhere, plus a lot of fallen trees and branches from the recent windstorms. Still really nice, but very different from the green paradise I enjoyed all summer.

I wasn't taking a lot of pictures until I started seeing a lot of mushrooms, which I had to get shots of for