Cold But Beautiful in the Hylebos

Today, I met Matt Perry, who is the new field representative for Congressman Adam Smith (9th District), covering environmental issues. Matt and I toured the Lower Hylebos Marsh, West Hylebos Wetlands and Spring Valley Ranch this afternoon.

Although it was cold (reeeallly cold), it was an incredible day in the Hylebos: stark and crisp. Lower Hylebos and Spring Valley Ranch are growing; even with the leaves off the deciduous trees, the wetland vegetation was manifest, asserting itself over the floodplains, while the red osier dogwood and alders are growing tall spires toward the sky. (although, someone has taken it upon themselves to "prune" the alders at LHM. More on that later).

The West Hylebos boardwalk was still caked in packed snow/ice in some areas and the waters were high, though not at flood stage. The boardwalk decking suffered its first casualty down near the T intersection towards Brooklake. A large alder branch speared the edge of the boardwalk, gouging out a 12-inch piece of the decking.

Also of note, the no-slip decking is getting slippery, as algae builds up on it. This is something we're probably going to have to address with Parks, sooner rather than later.

So, a big Hylebos welcome to Matt Perry. I look forward to working with him and thank him for a reason to spend 2 hours outside on a beautiful winter day!