We rarely hike without Ethan. Actually, this was only our second time hiking without him since he was born. Ethan is with his Grandma and Grandpa in Oregon this weekend. But it was our first time hiking with just Autumn and we did our best to engage her fully while making good time (something we rarely do with Ethan since we encourage him to stop and explore).
We headed to eastern Snohomish County this morning to hike on the Barlcay Lake Trail. We were not disappointed. Here are the highlights of this 4-mile roundtrip hike.
- 1 hour 15 minutes from our home
- 500ft elevation gain (great for families)
- 2 miles, 2 miles out (We didn’t spend our entire day on the trail)
- Beautiful hike through a mature forest (really beautiful and serene setting)
- Mostly parallels Barclay Creek (we love hikes along moving water)
- Beautiful destination at Barclay Lake with a great view of Mt. Baring
We spent a few hours on the trail, ate lunch and explored. While we saw only a couple groups on our hike to the lake, we passed more than 15 groups (90% with kids) on our way back to the trailhead. I think for the same reason we enjoyed the hike these groups were on the trail. This is a definite keeper that Ethan would do great on (plus it would be his first 4 mile hike). Also, we saw a couple dads with their kids backpacking in this area. This would make the perfect backpacking trip for Ethan’s first time.
Definitely explore this area if you’re visiting the Mt. Baker Snoqualmie National Forest.
Beautiful…but I miss seeing Ethan in the great outdoors with his cute little sister! I know he is having a great time though.
We missed the little guy too. We will definitely take him on this hike because of how accessible it is.