Hi, I'm Eric.

I’m an avid world traveler, photographer, software developer, and digital storyteller.

I help implement the Content Authenticity Initiative at Adobe.

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80
Dash Point State Park
80

Dash Point State Park

Federal Way, Washington
visited 23 December 2021
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The official description of this park says that the highlight is the beach. But, for me, it was the miles and miles of hiking trails.

A wide panoramic view of a curving sandy beach at Dash Point State Park under a blue sky streaked with wispy and puffy white clouds, with gentle waves breaking on the shore and forested tree-lined bluffs framing the left edge and rising along the far shoreline across the water.
A weathered piece of driftwood lying on damp gray beach sand, with several clear animal paw prints and clawed tracks pressed into the sand nearby, along with scattered strands of seagrass.

After a brief stop at the beach, I hiked a 5-mile loop through the woods behind the main entrance to this park. Judging by the number of people I saw on this cool but sunny December afternoon, these are very popular trails.

A gravel trail winds through bare winter brush and trees toward a tall steel and concrete bridge that towers overhead, its lattice support pier framed against a blue sky with scattered clouds.
A wooden footbridge on log pilings crosses a small forest stream at Dash Point State Park, with wooden stairways leading up to it on both sides. The lush setting is filled with sword ferns, moss-covered trees, and bare deciduous trunks, and a gravel path runs beside the shallow creek.
Bright green licorice ferns and moss cover the trunk of a large tree in a forest, with sunlight filtering through tall evergreens and a lichen-covered tree trunk on the right.
A small young cedar tree growing wild in the forest, decorated with turquoise, teal, and pearly white glass ornaments, surrounded by bare underbrush and a floor of fallen leaves. A partly obscured trail sign reading “BEACH” is visible in the upper left background.
A narrow dirt trail winds through a winter forest of bare, moss-covered deciduous trees, with lush green ferns lining the path and sunlight filtering through the branches.
A moss-covered tree branch stretches horizontally across the frame in a damp winter forest, sprouting small green ferns along its length. Behind it, a tangle of bare and moss-draped tree trunks rises toward soft light filtering through the canopy at Dash Point State Park.
A dirt hiking trail curves through a winter forest of tall moss-covered tree trunks, with sword ferns and fallen leaves lining the path under a clear blue sky.
Close-up of a tree trunk with mottled bark patched in green moss, pale lichen, and areas of dark cracked bark, set in a damp winter forest with green sword ferns and bare understory branches to the right.

I learned, after coming down the hill, that this was named Heart Attack Hill. Feeling thankful that I wound up hiking down this trail, not up it.

A wooden trail sign reading “Heart Attack Hill” nailed to the mossy trunk of a large fir tree in a winter forest, with bare deciduous branches and evergreens against a pale blue sky behind it.
A dirt hiking trail winds through a sunlit forest of tall moss-covered trees, lined with lush green sword ferns and a floor of fallen brown leaves under a clear blue sky.
A gravel and log-framed trail descends a staircase toward a metal footbridge crossing a wooded ravine, surrounded by moss-covered trees, ferns, and a forest floor blanketed in fallen brown leaves.

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