TrailsBro

On a downcast Saturday morning, a small group of boys set foot on the journey of a lifetime: a journey on the Japanese Gulch trail. Little did they know what daunting challenges awaited them. I say daunting, but in reality, the trail was relatively clean, so contrary to the idiom, we did not have our work out for us. Perhaps it was the fact that it was so rainy that almost the entire trail—no, the entire trail was covered in mud. It was so muddy, in fact, that my good pair of black sneakers that I had accidentally brought along with me had miraculously turned dark brown, believe it or not. The trailhead that we entered at, the southern trailhead, is located at the intersection of 76th St SW and 44th Ave W, deep within a residential area.  Similar to the main trailhead for Meadowdale Beach Park, both the northern and southern trailheads of Japanese Gulch are easily accessible by Mukilteo residents. There also several other locations along the western side of Japanese Gulch where the...

The curtain rises on another western Washington Trail: the Big Gulch trail system. Located right off Mukilteo Speedway, Big Gulch trail can be accessed at its southern trailhead at the Mukilteo Library. The trail may also be accessed at its northern trailhead, which is located at 92nd Street Park. While the former trailhead has highway access, the latter is easily accessible to Mukilteo residents, making it a great hotspot for hikers and joggers. When we hiked the trail, we began at the southern trailhead and continued down the western fork of Big Gulch trail, which leads to the Puget Sound. ...is what I would say if the trail actually led to the shore. Instead, it leads to— and get this — a wastewater treatment plant. Yeah, you read that right. More on this below.