Winter is here and so is the snow, well not in Seattle but beautiful mountains are only a quick drive away.
Snoqualmie Pass has a couple recreation areas that are easily accessible without serious snow gear. Two of these are Gold Creek Pond and Katchess lake on the north side of 90. While Katchess Lake required a bit more hardware to get to, Gold Creek Pond was easy to explore in just spikes. If you wanted to go off trail, GCP and snowshoes are the way to go. I miss the snow immensely but having it so close and with mountains too make up for it.