12/29 Saturday. Rainy days make waterfalls more impressive. For a short hike within a short drive, Twin Falls is a good choice. Despite of the light rain, quite a few kayaks and hikers today.
12/22, Saturday. Overcast. Point Defiance Park of Tacoma, at the south shore of Puget Sound. Good view of the islands/peninsulas and distant mountains. Nice gardens (no flower now), a pagoda (closed), torii gate in a pond, kids playgrounds, picnic tables here and there. 
There's a ferry to Vashon Island. Walked to Owen Beach from the marina. Had lunch at the picnic tables there. A bit chilly, but not bad.
Drove along the Five Mile Dr (one way). Trees are not large, but still nice forest feel. Saw raccoons by the road twice, 2 once, 5 the 2nd time. Quite a few joggers here.
Last stop is Fort Nisqually. Now a museum, with demonstrations in different houses. There's a large picnic area outside.
12/21, Friday morning. Drove to Jewell Meadow Wildlife Area to see the elks. They feed elk here everyday at 9am in winter. You can call and sign up ahead of time. We arrived around 9:15, and a truck with tourists bundled up was slowly moving, tossing hay left and right, and a trail of elks followed. 
The truck came out the first meadow and did the same hay tossing in the 2nd meadow with another large group of elks. Each herd has about 90-100. Saw one albino. Saddle Mt is snowy, and looming ahead over the 2nd meadow. A couple of more meadows along the same road, but no elks. I was hoping to see bald eagle here, but found none. The drive was quite scenic, and no traffic. Pretty chilly.
12/16, Sunday. It's been a long time since I last visited Mt. Erie in Anacortes. Good view, but the weather was not the best.
We started at Fish Creek TH (there is an outhouse here, not sure if it was open), and had lunch at Indian Henry Campground (closed, but plenty picnic tables. The trail is somewhat rocky, need ankle support. Well placed rocks, wood planks, one serious bridge to cross any creek. Only one short muddy section. A few down trees. Overall the trail is in great shape. Since it's close to the road, car noise is unavoidable. Pup Creek falls is a delight, covered with ice. It's a 0.2 mile detour to see the falls. Well worth it. Most hikers turn around here. It's the midway point.
East of this trail junction, after the meadow, we saw a lot of icicles. Being cold this week, all the water seeping places became hanging icicles. Quite lovely. 
The Narrow is the prettiest spot on the river. Don't know why there's a rope hanging in the middle. Part of the trail is in a wilderness. A few big trees.
We met at most 10 hikers. Heard gunshots. Quite cold, I wore a thin fleece all the time. Put on down for lunch. Sun broke out a bit in the afternoon. But only shone on the upper slopes, not reaching us and the river. Icicles melt a bit. Not as pretty on the way back.
Plenty fall color left on the way up, passing many burned or charred trees. Newly minted trail signs clearly mark all junctions. A brand new bridge. The last 2 miles seem not bothered by the fire. Some big trees. Snow started maybe at 3000'. Trail was still easy to follow with boot track. A few down trees. Some muddy spots. We saw sunshine briefly, and soon, it snowed. Very pretty, a winter wonderland. 
We were going fairly slowly, so despite of being sick of flu, I had no trouble hiking up 7 miles, 4000', ahead of the group, with Lisa, who was telling me about her kids and her boyfriend and his ex-wife. Boy, so much drama, but kept me entertained. She is turning 59 the next day (Monday)! She's in great shape, and is going to climb Aconcagua in a month or 2. Yes, no view at Sherrard Point, only snow and fog.
We turned around quickly after a couple of photos. Had lunch at the end of the road (road was unassailable: covered with snow), cleared some snow for seat, put all my clothes on, and my umbrella. We met at least a dozen other hikers/runners. Saw a couple of guys going in jeans and sneakers, two in shorts. Not a good idea in snow. I brought gaiters and microspiles (didn't use either), and wore waterproof boots. By the time we returned, the parking lot next to the lodge was full (3:30pm). A lot of people in shiny clothing dressed up for photos. We were pretty dirty. The sun was shining, a nice crisp autumn day.