Soaring Eagle Regional Park - #SaturdaySnapshots

I've been on a lot of hikes with the Auburn Senior Activity Center over the past several months, and one thing I've noticed is that each adventure has something that sets it apart from the others. My recent trek at Soaring Eagle Regional Park took place at the end of October, and the abundance of autumn leaves is one thing that made it memorable.
[Click on photos to enlarge.]

Soaring Eagle is 600 acres of mature forest, wetlands, and wildlife habitat in King County, Washington. The trails are shared by hikers, equestrians, and mountain bikers. Although it's conveniently close to Seattle suburbs (part of the park abuts a golf course), the area feels as if it's in the middle of wilderness.

We had a break in the weather on the day of our hike, but we'd had rain for almost a week beforehand. That made the leaves slippery in places. They obscured rocks and roots, ready to trip any hiker who wasn't paying attention to her footing. A single Big Leaf Maple leaf can be as wide as 11.5 inches across, and that seemed to be the predominant tree in these woods. The senior center brochure warned of "areas of mud and exposed roots in this mixed forest environment." 

As you can tell from the map above, multiple trails intersect. Although our hike was planned to be five miles long, we went farther than intended and my FitBit (and other hikers' pedometers) said we walked closer to seven. I believe it! We were definitely ready for our lunch break at 3.5 miles.

This sign warned of hazards on the Devil's Slide trail, which we avoided. Someone said the owls were dive bombing hikers.
Update: According to the Washington Department of Fish & Wildlife website, aggressive behavior from owls is “motivated by defense of their territory or young, or their search for handouts.” It’s heightened in the winter months when owls establish their territories and prepare to raise their young.]

Our hike was rated 2 on a scale of 1 to 4. 

More info about Soaring Eagle Park HERE.
Here's a map. Click on the + or - to zoom in or out.

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