Northwest Trek

We took the kids on Wed. to Northwest Trek.  If you aren't familiar, it is an animal park right before you get to Eatonville.  It tends to keep them in their natural habitats so they aren't all in small closed spaces like a regular zoo.  They have smaller cages for the ones that have been injured in the wild though.  It is good for the animals, but also means you might not get to see some of the animals.  Seeing as how it is only like 15 minutes from us, we decided it would be a good trip and we could leave around noon and still get back in time.  It is kind of pricey though (like $20 each adult), otherwise I think we would go more often.

The animals are all native to the Northwest (hence the name).

Very top center, barn owls perched

Bald eagle

They have a tram ride that takes about an hour.  You wind through acres and acres of wetlands, a big hill, and forests and can see anything natural that doesn't tend to attack each other (so no cougars but plenty of bison, reindeer, birds, elk, mountain goats, rams, etc.)  We came at a very good time because spring is when the babies are born!  We were even the only tram car that caught glimpse of baby mountain goats (we couldn't get the others' attention because we and one other family were alone in the last car and the tour guide can't hear us).

View of a valley

The baby bison are the orange ones

a hard to see mountain goat

Some rams

Sawyer's favorites were definitely the "Svens"

Sawyer and a beaver playing

This wolverine kept coming up to him in a stare-off

Bobcat about to go drink some water

raccoon next to sawyer's head

 We also saw a black bear (the grizzlies were off exhibit), a cougar, wolves, and one of Sawyer's favorites (he made us go back and look a second time) the "Pokey-cone" (Porcupine).  I was sad because we didn't get to see my favorite, the lynx (they're so cute) but that's what happens when they put them in natural habitats- they can go hide in some bushes.

I'm hoping to go back in the fall because that is when they are looking for mates and you get to see the rams head-butt each other and antlered animals tug of war and stuff.  It sounds pretty cool!