What a windstorm! Tuesday night’s strong gusts hit Northwest Trek hard. Fallen trees and branches covered nearly every road and pathway in the park and fences had to be rebuilt. But, with great team effort and the help of a few leaf blowers, the park will open just in time for the 3-day weekend ahead (it even has dry weather in the forecast!).
It was all hands on deck this week, as employees from each department surveyed the forested paths, picking up branches while maintenance staff worked tirelessly to clear trees.
“Thank you all for pitching in so we can open our beautiful park to the public for the weekend!” wrote horticulturist and maintenance lead Jake Pool to Northwest Trek staff.
Fortunately, no animals were hurt in the storm. Being native to the Pacific Northwest, they didn’t even seem to mind it. In the days after the storm, the grizzly bear brothers were seen napping on logs, Carly the cougar soaked up some rare sun in her exhibit, a bobcat seemed as curious as ever and the eagles and owls perched on their branches. Like many of the animals at Northwest Trek, the wolverines Rainier and Ahma are built for the cold, with thick black and gold fur protecting them from low temperatures and winter conditions.
(Gallery: click on any image to enlarge and view.)
With the animals out enjoying their habitats and the paths safely cleared and ready for guests, now is the perfect time to visit and maybe even fulfil a New Year’s resolution! The walking paths around Northwest Trek’s core, where you can see wolverines, cougar, otters, bears and more, are about 1.3 miles or 3,000 steps. And science shows that exercise outside is one of the fastest ways to improve your health and happiness! After a week of power outages and storm cleanup, who wouldn’t want that?