Hike, Paddle, and Fish in Seattle

Seattleites endure the moss that sprouts under their chins each drizzly winter because they know there’s sunlight at the end of that dark tunnel. It’s called summer–a brief-blooming perfection of soft Puget Sound breezes and twilights that linger until nearly 11 p.m. So forgive locals if they get a little manic about their nine fresh- and saltwater beaches, plentiful old-growth forests, and even an urban path (the 27-mile Burke-Gilman Trail) that leads parched cyclists past the Redhook Brewery’s tasting room.

Hike

Rising from Puget Sound to a bluff high above the water, 534-acre Discovery Park boasts king-of-the-world views west to the Olympic Mountains and south to the skyline. Hikes on the 12 miles of woodsy trails are all about the timing: Start a 2.8-mile walk by following the Loop Trail toward the water at low tide and explore a tidal-pool bouillabaisse of crabs, mussels, and Crayola-vivid starfish. Return uphill via the Bluff Trail spur at sunset, when alpenglow turns 14,410-foot Mt. Rainier into a cone of raspberry gelato. (206) 386-4236

Paddle

Green Lake is Seattle’s Central Park, around which residents gather to jog, bike-and gaze curiously at Seattle Canoe and Kayak Club paddlers. Though the club’s primary focus is flatwater canoe and kayak racing (it has birthed more than one Olympian), members get a key that enables them to sign out a variety of craft for a fast lunchtime of J-strokes. Glide out to the middle of the 3-mile-long drink, or roam its placid, willow-draped shores. www.scn.org/rec/sckc

Fish

For the first time in 8 years, officials last year reopened the gin-clear Cedar River, south of the skyscrapers, for catch-and-release trout fishing. (It was closed to protect depleted steelhead.) Toss a stonefly nymph for 20-inch cutthroats in the bucolic, 21-mile stretch to the Landsburg Dam through August. Or lash the water closer in-beside Boeing’s mammoth airplane assembly plant. Load up on caddis patterns and advice at Patrick’s Fly Shop (206-325-8988).