Most of the mountain-biking enthusiasts around here will say that the old logging trails in the Capitol Forest south of Olympia are the best in the state. That's where we headed last Saturday for a day of hiking. The trails are maintained by volunteer work crews throughout the year who dig trenches for runoff water, bank up sagging trails, and make small bridges and walkways along the routes.
Because of the heavy rainfall in the winter months, soil erosion can be a real problem, and trails can't maintain the traffic.
The local camp- grounds have ample sites for boarding horses, with horse trails leading right out of the camping area and up into the forest. However, they are closed to horse and motorized use from the end of October to the first of April when hikers have privileged access. When we drove through, none of the sites were in use, and the forest was extremely quiet - except for the occasional burst of gunfire from hunters. 
We weren't sure where the shots were coming from, so we drove to several remote sites before we found one that appeared safe. We looked around, saw a sign saying "No Hunting", and felt safe heading up the trailhead.
We no sooner got about a fourth of a mile along the trail when we discovered why they need monthly work crews to restore the trails - the torrent of rain that has covered this region in the last few days has caused considerable erosion and some flooding. Fortunately, Taraz brought one of his durable walking sticks, and he carved out a gateway along the edge, to allow the surplus of water to drain. That done, George and I followed. 
We'd wished that we'd worn rubberboots rather than hiking boots because these huge puddles were everywhere. Had we worn them we could have walked right through the water rather than skirt the edges of the puddles. However, it was a wonderful adventure whacking the brush down, draining some of the big puddles, and exploring the mountain bike routes. 
It continued to drizzle throughout the late morning, through the afternoon, but we weren't seriously affected. George regretted not wearing his weather-proof pants, so his jeans got soaked. I wore the pants but not the jacket since I was carrying an umbrella - and I had a change of clothing back at the car. Since we were hiking, we stayed comfortably warm the entire time.
By the time we headed up through the woods on our return route, the sky started to darken and the area was in for some very heavy rain. We got out just in the nick of time, before the clouds dumped record-level amounts on our area in the past three days. All of the rivers in this part of the state are on high alert for flooding, as warnings to recreationists and hunters. The Olympic Mountains have dumped 12 inches of rain, and the Snoqualmie River is flooding. Tragically, a hunt is currently underway for an elk hunter that was swept away in his vehicle near the Cowlitz River. The riverbank collapsed under his vehicle.
When we neared Tacoma, we were surprised at the flooding. Some streets were completely covered in water, with cars stranded along the curbs.
As we drove along Union Avenue, cars were splashing huge arcs of water. Drains were getting clogged with leaves that had been raked to curbs, and people were out trying to clear the drains. It was quite a shock to have had such a peaceful, fun excursion out in the woods, and then to see the incredible flooding that suddenly hit our city and the surrounding areas. Roads up in the mountains have been closed. Warnings are still out, to watch the rivers rising, and to be ready to evacuate in a moments notice.
