Field notes: Snowmaggedon damage

Snowmaggedon damage @ Tolt MacDonald Park, a photo by kingcountyparks on Flickr.

Following the week of big snow and wind, there are lots of folks across King County who are dealing with downed tree limbs and other debris in their yards.

Just imagine the size of the clean-up job if your yard is 26,000 acres in size. That’s what King County Parks crews are tasked with in the wake of the recent wild winter weather. We’ve been busy clearing storm debris from our 200 parks and 175 miles of regional trails, plus our backcountry trail system and all of the other great amenities that we’re responsible for maintaining.

We thank you for your patience during this cleanup, and encourage you to contact us should you come across any of this debris. Heck just call us to say hi.

Burke-Gilman Trail update

Last week’s snow and ice made things difficult for lots of people in King County – including the crew that has been putting the finishing touches on the major reconstruction of the County’s Burke-Gilman Trail through Lake Forest Park.

The good news: We’re done with the paving, retaining walls, drainage, fencing and signage along this 2.2-mile-long stretch of the BGT.

The bad news: The contractor lost the entire work week because of inclement weather, and this pushes the trail reopening back from what we had hoped would be the end of January into early February.

Work that remains includes installing concrete for the plaza on the southern side of the intersection at Northeast 170th Street.

We’ll keep you updated on the new reopening date and check here for the latest construction updates. We appreciate everyone’s patience!

Did that squirrel just take my sign?!?

Welcome, Fitness Challenge participants and curious onlookers.

In the coming months, The Plog, along with King County Parks’ Facebook page will be your go-to location for updates about the King County Parks Fitness Challenge, a fun way for King County employees to fulfill the Healthy Incentives program and go for gold.

Today is the first day to get out and get working on the challenges. A few folks were so excited about the King County Parks Fitness Challenge that they started over the weekend. Unfortunately, not all of the signage was up, so no codes for them. If this was you, thanks for your enthusiasm! And please email me at fitnesschallenge@kingcounty.gov and let me know where you were so I can help you out.

The sign that Parks Mascot Douggie the Douglas squirrel is displaying is an example of an end-point sign. The ‘code’ that you will be looking for is actually a word. In this case, the sign was sitting atop my computer, so an homage to the floppy disk seemed appropriate. There will be signs at trailheads or starting points (or there should be, unless Douggie has been out adding to his cache). Keep your eyes peeled for these l’il helpers, so you know you’re going in the right direction.

Since this is the first year of the King County Parks Fitness Challenge, we would love feedback and information about where you’ve been, pictures, and clarifications of routes so that we can continue to improve this program in the future. 

A few updates and clarifications:

• Dockton Historic Trail map 
• Disk Golf Course map at Lakewood Park
• Ring Hill South updated driving directions: Travel East along NE Woodinville Duvall Road and turn right on NE Old Woodinville Duvall Road. After turning onto the Old Woodinville Duvall Rd, turn right onto 232nd at a Y in the road. Continue South on Meyers Road/232^nd Ave NE and turn left onto NE 147^th Street. The road will end at the trail head.
• Cougar Mountain Wilderness Peak updated hiking directions: From the parking lot go .6 mile up a gentle hill to the Wilderness Creek-Wilderness Cliffs junction. From this junction you can continue 1 mile on the Wilderness Creek trail to take the Wilderness Peak trail at Shy Bear Pass. From that point it is .4 miles to Wilderness Peak. From the W. Creek/W-Cliffs junction you can also reach the Peak by hiking 1.3 miles on the W-Peak trail and you’ve made it to the highest point on Cougar Mountain at an elevation of 1595 feet.

Random photo post: Community garden

Marymoor's community garden

Little Footprint Big Forest Project Update – Thanks Matson!

 A BIG THANKS to Matson for donating 4 – 24’ cargo containers for our Little Footprint Big Forest project! We just received our first two containers and our crews can’t wait to start the (de)construction.  When completed, the camping cargo container will feature an adaptable floor plan complete with beds, a table, and a multi-purpose mess cabinet made from recycled and reclaimed materials. King County Parks is excited to make this amenity available for public, overnight rental by the summer of 2012. We’ll keep you updated as progress on this innovative project continues. More updates to follow.

http://www.kingcounty.gov/recreation/parks/partners/littlefootprint.aspx