[Gil]

Frequently I find my weekends full of kids' soccer games and church, so I'm left with the weekdays to go hiking. The problem: I work swing, so I have to be downtown at the office by 3 or 4 p.m. That means if I get 6 hours sleep and leave home (South Snohomish Co.) by 8:30 a.m., I have 5.5-6.5 hours before I have to be home in time to make it to the office, washed, shaved and ready to roll. Within those parameters, I've done many of the shorter hikes off U.S. 2 and I-90: Serene, Barclay, Bandera, Mason Lake, Talapus, Snow Lake, Annette Lake. I've even gone so far afield as Merritt Lake and Pilchuck, and my biggest push was to Surprise Lake (I was 15 minutes late for work cuz I got trapped by a train on the way out!). The question: What obvious, nice hikes am I missing? They would have to be within about 1.5 hours driving (one way) from Brier and probably the max. limit is 8 miles RT. Thanks for your help.

[Snowshoe Hare]

Oh. This is about hiking???? I was hoping for something else.... First off where exactly is Brier, I haven't a clue other than you said S. Snoh Co. Little elev. gain on either (actually pretty level for the most part) but both trails in Robe Canyon Historic Park near Granite Falls are nice hikes. The Old Robe Trail is 3.5 miles RT and the Lime Kiln Trail on the other side of the Stillaguamish R. is 6.5 mi RT. Outstanding scenery and all-season hikes. http://robecanyon.org

[greg]

Gil, plenty of good ones up the Middle Fork, Myrtle and Hester lakes and several associated off-trail lakes, Marten Lake up Taylor River Trail, you can also get to Snow Lake via the Middle Fork. Some of those would be tight with your time frame though. Copper Lake in the Foss Lakes is another off Hwy 2, plus Deception Creek, Mineral City, Blanca Lake, West Cady Ridge and Scorpion Mtn. The Mountain Loop is also a potential area, lots of good sutff up there. Pilchuck, Lake 22, Heather Lake, Boardmans, North, Dickerman, etc.

[Mike E.]

There are some other nice hikes along Highway 2 that are fairly fast. Just past the Surprise Lake turnoff there is the Tunnel creek trailhead. Nice steep walk up to the PCT. The you can go south to Trap Lake or north to Hope, Mig and Josephine lakes. If you go just past Stevens Pass to the Smith Brook Road, you can hit the PCT again and go north to Janus lake or south to Valahalla lake. The drive up Smith Brook over the pass and down Rainy Creek is a little longer, but the hike up to Minotaur is only a couple of steep miles from the trailhead and it's a very attractive spot. If you drive up Mill Creek road it'll take you into the back side of the Stevens Pass ski area and you can hike to Lanham Lake at the very start of the road or to Josephine from the top of the road. Take a four wheel drive rig if you're going all the way into this one. It's so close to Josephine that I saw a couple carry a full sized plastic cooler in there one day.

[Tom]

Snoqualmie Mtn is relatively quick. Same for Silver Peak. Rampart ridge via Lillian shortcut is another quickie. Come to think of it, look at what the TNAB do.

[Slugman]

I live in Lynnwood, as far away from the Mtn Loop hiway as Brier, and yet I get to Lake 22 in one hour flat from my driveway. So my guess is that virtually all Mtn Loop hiway hikes, even those that start at Barlow pass, will meet your "1.5 hours driving each way" maximum. You mentioned Mt Pilchuck, so I'm guessing you've also been to, or know about, Heather lake. So then there's Lake 22, Pinnacle lake, Ashland lakes, North lake, Headlee pass, the Walt Bailey trail to Cutthroat lakes, Gothic basin, Glacier basin, Silver lake, and probably more that I'm forgetting. Glacier basin and Silver lake would require a four mile each way mtn bike ride before the actual hike, but the ride goes fast on the way in and lightining-quick on the way out. All of the hikes I mentioned are four miles each way or less. A lot of the other suggestions above are really good ones, too. I like the Middle fork hikes listed, but I question whether they can be driven to in 1.5 hours from Brier, especially if there's any traffic at all. The beauty of the Mtn Loop hiway is the almost total lack of traffic problems likely between Brier and the trailheads. I see you mention "downtown" as your work location. I take it you mean downtown Seattle? If that's so, and you can go hiking then head straight to work without going home, then those Middle Fork Snoqualmie river hikes would be back in play.

[peppersteak'n'ale]

I don't think it's been mentioned yet, but Mt. Persis can probably be done easily in 1/2 day

[captain jack]

[lookout bob]

gaeger....I'd like to throw in a benign, non mountain hike.....Spencer Island in the Snohomish river delta is a nice walk although close to I 5, a sewage treatment plant, and general Everett noise.....it is a great mucky short walk with lots of good birds if that interests you.....maybe you should look at Harvey Mannings trips and trails series to score some shorty hikes that meet your criteria.....happy hunting....

[lookout bob]

second that emotion.......