Lake Padden & Padden Creek Falls

Tuesday, April 26, 2011

It was so nice out today that as soon as Joe got home from work we went to Lake Padden. If you remember my post from a few weeks ago, by the time I was at this part of the lake, it was really overcast and you could barely see the mountains. Totally different today.

We took a gravel trail to see the 2 Padden Creek Falls. There was a huge tree trunk on the path that I just had to climb. There were ducks swimming in the creek. Chance couldn’t figure out how to get over to them and get them.

We then took some higher trails on the hill on the south side of the lake. Once we were on the east side, we took Chance to the fenced in off-leash dog park. She usually pretty good with dogs her size, until they try to sniff her butt. She doesn’t seem to understand that she can’t smell their butts and then not let them sniff hers. I guess she wants the cake and to eat it too. 

We walked out on the floating dock. Joe tried to convince Chance to get in the water. She seemed like she really wanted to. She would lean over the edge as far as she felt comfortable. She just couldn’t get the nerve to jump into the water a foot and a half below. Finally it happened. Her front foot slipped on the dock edge and she slid into the cold lake. She didn’t panic too much. She wasn’t sure where to swim to. She tried to get back on the dock, until she heard me calling her from the shoreline. I’m proud of my little swimmer.

Joe then tried multiple times to get her to go back in the water. She was close several times, making squealing noises with both excitement and nervousness at the same time. We tried again on the other floating dock by the boat ramp. There were many kayakers out on the lake. If we were the ones in the kayak, she would be in there swimming. It was a fun late afternoon hike. I could really get used to this.

Lake Padden

Wednesday, April 4, 2011

Chance and I went for a walk around Lake Padden today, the first day with sun and a break from the rain. It is 2 miles from our house. It reminds me a lot of Lake Johnson in Raleigh. The gravel trail around the lake is about 3 miles long, but the nice part is there isn’t as much ups and downs with hills. There is a ban on boat motors, making it a great natural setting. Even though it was 40 degrees out, there were still plenty of people out walking, working out and bicycling.

There are several floating docks. Chance really wanted to walk out on them and check them out, but once she realized they were not that stable, she wanted to run back to solid ground.

The trees here are beautiful. Everything is so green.

Chance was very good at scaring away all the ducks and geese. It was great to see such a beautiful blue sky.

On the east side, there is a boat launch, playground, picnic shelters, baseball fields, and an off-leash dog park. I took Chance into the fenced in dog area. The larger dogs worried Chance so she clung close to me the whole time. There were concrete tubes covered by a pile of dirt that looks like a fun playground for dogs. Maybe one day Chance won’t be so timid. There is also a golf course next to the lake.

There were creeks with older trees falling down. I love seeing the bright green moss growing on the north side of the trees.

Chance was a good listener when I decided to stop and take pictures. She is getting a lot better at walking next to us. Next time we go, we’ll try out other trails further from the lake that are off-leash.

There was a large tree that fell down. The bright reddish brown wood trunk against the green moss is beautiful.  

In an hour, the weather quickly changed to overcast, getting ready to rain again shortly. In the distance is Mount Baker, the large mountain in the Cascades nearby with a ski resort.