Gold Creek Pond - October 2020

 

Today, the boys and I returned to one of my favorite easy "hikes."  I use quotes because it is just a flat and mostly paved walk around a pond.  However, when you're looking for an easy adventure outside with beautiful scenery, easy space for social distancing 2020 style, and less than an hour from Seattle, Gold Creek Pond is nearly perfect.

Gold Creek Pond is beautiful year round. It's hard to believe that this pond was part of the staging ground for I-90 construction, as the site has been restored beautifully.  Because it is only a 1 mile loop on mostly paved or crushed gravel trail, this is very accessible for wheelchairs and strollers, making it a wonderful family hike.

A couple of past trip reports to Gold Creek Pond, although we've been more times than I can remember:

• December 2014 with 4 year-old Jake:  http://dotsonstories.blogspot.com/2014/12/gold-creek-pond-winter-hike.html
• April 2015: https://dotsonstories.blogspot.com/2015/04/gold-creek-pond-spring-2015.html 
• December 2016: https://dotsonstories.blogspot.com/2016/12/gold-creek-pond-december-2016.html 

When we left Redmond today, the weather was overcast with some sun breaks.  Although the boys didn't want coats, much less gloves, I insisted on bringing them, because weather in the Pacific Northwest can change quickly.

One new aspect to adventuring in 2020 is we always bring masks, even when we hope to be far away from anyone else, just in case.  Today, Tyler wanted to be a kitty.

As we drove up I-90 towards Snoqualmie Pass, the clouds got darker, and past North Bend it started raining.  Since we haven't adventured very much during quarantine, I worried that the rain could make the boys miserable.  However, I didn't convey any worry and hoped that snacks and gloves would take care of things.

When we pulled into the parking lot, it was pouring down rain, but thankfully the boys didn't seem to care. We put on coats, hats, and gloves, and they wanted to start racing as soon as the car doors closed.  I was so thankful that their PNW roots are strong!  

From the parking lot, we turned left on to the trail.  

At the first fork in the road, we turned left again, because I think it's fun to start out with a view of the pond.  

Before we got to the picnic area, we came across the little bridge over the little stream.  I remembered that Jake and I brought Nanna here a couple of years ago, to see the autumn salmon run, so we took a peek at the stream.  The boys were excited to see it absolutely full of fish!  Tyler is a big Octonauts fan, so any aquatic animals are especially exciting for him.

When Jake and I used to go on adventures when he was little, he always loved caves, tunnels, and culverts.  We used to spend a bunch of time, just the two of us, at this particular culvert at Gold Creek Pond, so we had to check it out.  It was pouring down rain, but we didn't mind at all.  It felt great to be outside!

After they had their fun scrambling on the rocks and watching the salmon, we continued on our way.  The next stop: the bank of Gold Creek Pond!  To me, the field just south of Gold Creek Pond has to be one of the most perfect picnic areas anywhere.  The boys ran around and goofed around. Surprising, I know!

Eventually, we started on the trail to head clockwise around the pond.  Under the trees, we could barely feel the rain, so the boys wanted to stop and jump around.  There was a little slope downhill from the right side of the trail, so Jake wanted to take a crazy jumping picture, where it looks like he's falling, but really he was in control.  It was unprompted, and I still don't know why, other than Jake loves to be silly and have fun.  So, we stopped for a mini photo shoot to get the right picture.  

Next, Tyler wanted to be filmed.  He wanted to hold a toy and run towards the camera while yelling, "Action."  I don't know why, but I was happy to oblige.

By stopping for a few minutes to take the pictures, the cold set in.  Because both boys were wearing jeans instead of water-repellant pants, they wanted to turn around and head home.  My bad.  Although we didn't do the loop today, we had a bunch of fun running around together in the rain, so I call today a win!

I'm pretty much always up for a trip to Gold Creek Pond.  If you're ever interested in meeting up, let me know!  If you want to check it out on your own, here are some tips:

BEFORE YOU GO

1. Go to the Washington Trails Association's site https://www.wta.org/go-hiking/hikes/gold-creek-pond and check out the latest field reports to get an idea about conditions.
2. Since it's on National Forest Land with "restroom" facilities, a NW Forest Recreation Pass is required.  The Discover Pass doesn't count. You can get a one day pass for $5 or an annual pass for $30.  

The online store is here: https://www.discovernw.org/recreation-passes.html. You can even print out a day pass at home and put it on your dashboard when you park. If you can't print it out at home and don't want to have it mailed from the online store, stop by North Bend on your way up.  If you take exit 31 from I-90, any of the gas stations in town will have a NW Forest Recreation Pass for sale.  

3. Dress in layers.  In the mountain passes, weather can change. Have kids wear long underwear, water repellant pants (like microfleece or rain paints), hats or coats with hoods, and gloves.

4. When heading out with kids, always pack drinks and snacks.

5. While there is a sani-can type of pit toilet in the parking lot, it is closed during winter, and not ideal in summer for that matter.  I recommend stopping in North Bend at exit 31 and use a restroom at one of the fast food places there.  If you have a Discover Pass, you can also head over to the Hyak Sledding hill parking lot, near the Snoqualmie Tunnel.  It is just across I-90 from Gold Creek Pond and has a heated restroom with running water year round.  

6.  Because it is just off of I-90, you can generally count on cell service, at least until you reach exit 54.  However, because you never know, it's best to take a screenshot of the driving map and trail map so that you have it on your phone.

7. If you plan to take pictures of salmon or the water, bring a camera with a polarizing lens, as that reduces glare.



GETTING THERE

1. Driving map: https://goo.gl/maps/nZZfY1TRVqrmdwNo7
2. From I-90, take Hyak exit 54.  From Seattle, take a left at the end of the off-ramp and head east under I-90.

3. After you go under I-90, the first right takes you back on to I-90. Don't take that.  Just past the onramp is the offramp, which kind of looks like a right turn.  Don't take that either.

4. At the yield sign, next to the "Gold Creek Sno Park" sign that looks like a little house, turn right and drive down the road.

4. In about a mile, you'll see a sign for "Gold Creek Pond" on Huckleberry Peak Road.  Turn left here. 

5. The parking lot for Gold Creek Pond is up the road .3 miles.  

6. From the parking lot, find the trail in the NW corner of the lot.  

7. At the "Y" in the road take a left.

 

TRAIL MAP

1. From the parking lot, if you look at the signs and the pit toilet, the trail starts to the left.

2. Within a minute, there will be a fork in the road.  Either way starts or ends the loop.  I prefer to veer left here so that the group starts off with the best view of the water. It's an exciting place to start!

3. Once you start, there may be some side trails that lead to private cabins or a difficult hike.  Stay on the path with the water in view and you'll end up where you started.

4. Make sure to stop at the picnic area for pictures. If kids have a ton of energy, its a safe, flat area for them to run around.  

5. At the north end of the water, there is a little loop that veers off the main trail toward the water.  There's a little bench here, so it's a fantastic place to sit, give the kids snacks, and enjoy the view.

Gold Creek Pond December 2016

LWSD - Logging into laptops for the first time

 Getting Started - Setting up your school laptop for Microsoft Teams 

After picking up a school laptop for our 5th grader this week, I got things set up for our upcoming first week of remote learning.  I wanted to share some nitty-gritty details for other families getting ready.  Although this walkthrough is geared for the Windows Surface laptop we received, if it would be helpful to add sections for specific tablets or other platforms, please reach out and I’ll see what I can do! 

 

Step 1: Log into Skyward on another device & find 7 digit student ID: 

1. I always find the login page by going to https://www.lwsd.org/students-families/for-students-and-families and clicking on the green “Skyward” button. 
2. Log in.  If you don’t know your Login ID or password, click “Forgot your Login/Password” link.  As a hint, this Login ID is likely 5 digits of your last name, 3 digits of your first name, and 3 numbers.  Hermoine Granger’s login might look like GrangHer000.  You likely have a Skyward account in addition to your student having one. 
3. Click on “Student Info” tab 
4. Find the 7 digit “Other ID” number. 

Step 2: Log into new student laptop 

1. Student name should already be available as a login. 
2. For the password, replace the zeros with the 7 digit student number and enter this: 21Stu#0000000 
3. Note that the “S” is capital and “tu” are lowercase.  If T’Challa’s student number was 1234567, his password would be: 21Stu#1234567 

Step 3: Logging on to the internet 

1. In the lower right corner of the screen, find the icon that looks like a wireframe globe.  Click it. 
2. Find your home wireless router and log in. 
3. At the top of the list is something that says “Elementary DirectAccess.”  This may be where people can log in to hotspots, once you receive that info, although I don’t have any details on that yet. 

 

Step 4: Adjusting brightness (optional) 

If the default brightness is too dim, you can adjust it quickly.   

1. Minimize any open windows and right-click the desktop. 
2. Click “Display Settings.” 
3. Adjust the brightness bar at the top of the screen. 

 

 

Step 5: Change background picture (optional) 

This isn’t an urgent startup task, but after changing the display brightness it’s a quick thing to make the laptop fun and welcoming.  Note that this can be a great way to keep math tables, sight-word for reading, reminders, family pictures, or fun student-selected pictures nearby. 

1. Minimize any open windows and right-click the desktop 
2. Select “Personalize” 
3. Under “Choose your picture” click the “Browse” button.   
4. Select any picture that has been downloaded.  If you want to send a picture that isn’t on the internet, you can e-mail your student’s e-mail account or save it to their OneDrive account, and from either of those places it can be downloaded to the laptop. 

 

Step 6: Adding wired headphones (only necessary if you don’t have Bluetooth headphones) 

Have you ever been to an event and heard microphone feedback?  It happens when a microphone sends the regular microphone input + the background audio from speakers back to the speakers.  Then, the speakers project the microphone input that had repeated speaker audio and creates a “feedback loop” with ultimately distorted audio.  It doesn’t sound great. 

During conference calling, a smaller scale of this can happen if the laptop microphone picks up audio from the speakers.  Instead of a screeching sound that you might hear when big microphones & speakers create feedback loops at events, students might hear echoed audio in their speakers, which makes it really frustrating for them to participate in group discussions.   

The best way to prevent this is to wear headphones so that the laptop microphone doesn’t pick up audio.  Headphones with microphones aren’t necessary as the laptop microphone still works.  Some kind of headphones, whether wired or Bluetooth, are important, though. 

Here is some info on connecting wired headphones.  The next section will walk through connecting Bluetooth headphones. 

1. Click the white square Windows button in the lower left corner to bring up the Start Menu. 
2. In the textbox that says, “Type here to search” type this: Sound 
3. Click “Sound settings.” 
4. Plug in your wired headphones (if they’re not Bluetooth.)  If you have light up headphones that have both an audio jack & a USB plug, and if don’t have a USB port on your laptop, don’t worry.  Most headphones with both audio jacks and USB plugs are for lights on headphones.  As long as you can plug in the audio jack to the audio port, they should function fine, even if they don’t light up.   
5. Under “Choose your output device” select “Headphones” 
6. Under “Master volume” slide the volume bar around so that it’s the right volume. 
7. 
8. If you don’t hear out of your headphones, check the headphones cord.  Sometimes there is a volume slider on fancy headphone cords. 

 

Step 7: Adding Bluetooth devices (optional) 

While school laptops come with built in pointing devices and speakers, your family may want the option of a Bluetooth mouse, keyboard, speakers, or headset.  Most laptops that support Bluetooth can have multiple Bluetooth devices paired, although it can depend on the laptop & devices.  It’s recommended to pair your most important thing first, and then pair less important things subsequently, just to make sure.  To pair Bluetooth devices: 

1. Click the white square Windows button in the lower left corner to bring up the Start Menu. 
2. In the textbox that says, “Type here to search” type this: Bluetooth 
3. Click “Bluetooth and other devices settings.” 
4. 
5. Make sure Bluetooth is turned on and click “Add Bluetooth or other device.” 
6. Select the type of device (most likely “Bluetooth” option.) 
7. On your Bluetooth device, find and click the pairing button. 
8. Device should pair.  Once it pairs, it should show up as a connected device.  After we paired a Bluetooth mouse it showed up.  Note that since this is a list of all connected devices, the Bluetooth mouse shows up above the wired headphones. 

 

 

 

Step 8: Adding a wireless printer (optional) 

Hopefully, it won’t be required to have a printer at home.  By default, Microsoft Teams prints to PDF, which will make things easy to send to teachers electronically.  If you do have a wireless computer at home, here is info on connecting it. 

1. Make sure the printer is on. 
2. Click the white square Windows button in the lower left corner to bring up the Start Menu. 
3. In the textbox that says, “Type here to search” type this: Printer 
4. Click “Printers and Scanners.” 
5. Click “Add a printer or scanner.” 
6. Find your printer and click “Add device. 

 

Step 9: Dealing with popup messages 

While setting up your computer, you may see popups appear as the laptop makes updates during the first login.  If you see some messages appear and then fade off the screen, you can always find them again by clicking the square speech bubble icon in the lower right corner of the screen.  They usually aren’t too important, though. 

 

Now that your laptop should be set up with internet, headphones, Bluetooth devices, and readable brightness, it’s time to launch Microsoft Teams! 

 

Step 1: Logging in 

Microsoft Teams should already be installed on your device.  

1. To log in, use your student’s e-mail, rather than the student number needed to log into the laptop.  If Dr. Seuss logged in, his login might look like s-DSeuss@lwsd.org.  
2. Use the 21Stu#1234567 password (with your student's 7 digit ID)

 

Step 2: Getting started with OneDrive 

OneDrive is a server-based way to store files.  This way, even if something happens to the laptop, the files will still be on OneDrive.  Also, if your student periodically uses different devices, OneDrive is available on any device.  I have Microsoft Teams and OneDrive installed on my phone and logged into my student’s account so that I can easily check status of various documents.  You can log into your student's OneDrive from any device by logging in with their student e-mail at https://onedrive.live.com.  It’s a great way to manage files.   

1. On the left side of teams, click “Files” and then find “OneDrive.” 
2. In OneDrive, find “+ New” near the top and click it. 
3. Click “Word document” and give it a name like “testing.” 
4. Type in something, and then at the bottom of the page find “ – 100 + “ 
5. Click the plus or minus on either side of 100.  By changing the zoom level of the text, you can make it easier to read on your screen, without actually changing the final font size of text.  It’s a little thing that can make reading much more comfortable for your student. 
6. 
7. When you are finished, you can go to the “File” menu and just click “Exit” without saving.  By starting the Word document from within OneDrive, it is saved automatically.  You can also select “Save As” and save a copy of the document. 

 

Step 3: Making a test call in Teams 

With all of the basics figured out, it’s time to make a test call to make sure your audio and visual equipment is ready for online meetings!  Fingers and toes crossed, right? 

1. In the upper right corner of Microsoft Teams, to the left of the closing [x] icon, click on your student’s icon.  There is likely a green dot next to it indicating that you’re online. 
2. Under their name there’s an option to add or change a picture. 
3. Click “Settings.” 
4. 
5. Next, click “Devices” and make sure the right headphones and microphone are selected. 
6. Click “Make a test call.” 
7. 
8. You should hear a voice ask you to speak after the first beep.  After a second beep your audio should be played back to you.  If it sounds faint, try moving closer to the laptop if that is your microphone to see if that improves.   
9. 
10.  

 

7. Once you have heard your voice repeated back to you, heard something through the headphones, and seen video of yourself, Teams is set up and your student is ready for their first Teams class this year!   

8.