Monday, August 22, 2011

Good but not great

All our hikes can't be filled with the "wow factor," I guess. Today, for our semi-weekly extracurricular Monday hike, ten Senior Trailblazers set out for Goat Lake, a LONG drive down the Mountain Loop Highway past Granite Falls. From Bellingham, I suspect the entire drive, one way, was somewhere around 130 miles. This means the hike would need to be absolutely spectacular to make the long drive worthwhile. While it was pretty wonderful, it didn't have the pizzazz of last Thursday's Welcome Pass hike, or the Thornton Lakes hike we took a few Mondays ago.
We set out on the trail by 10:00am and headed for the lake on the lower trail. There are two ways to get to the lake, one by Elliott Creek (very scenic) and the other on a higher trail that is a little longer. (We took that trail back.) We reached the lake a little after noon and found a very nice place to have our lunch.
As you can see, the lake is really quite beautiful and serene. Although the day was mostly overcast, the lake was really lovely and in a very nice setting.  The rain stayed away until we were almost at the end of the hike, and then it only cooled us down a bit; nobody needed to pull out rain gear. By the end of the hike, we had covered a little more than eleven miles and around 2,000 feet of elevation gain and loss.
The falls coming down from this lake into Elliott Creek were very spectacular, but I wasn't able to get a picture that gives any justice to the scene. However, I was able to capture this shot of Al, taking a picture of the falls that at least gives a little perspective to the scene. From where he was standing, the falls roared down past him into the creek.
Trust me, the scene he is photographing is amazing, but my pictures just showed some water careening down into the creek without anything to lend perspective to show what I saw. So, this picture will have to do. Maybe the picture that Al is taking will do a better job than mine.

Afterwards, we drove to Granite Falls and had dinner at the Omega Pizza Parlor, where I indulged in a pizza and beer, as I was not one of the drivers. I'm pretty tired, I realize now, and I'm thinking that a nice hot shower and my nice warm bed will feel awfully nice. The sun has set on our day, and I learned that it rained almost all day here in Bellingham, while our rain held off, for the most part, until we were safe and dry inside our cars.

I hope you had a wonderful day, a fulfilling one that had at least a little bit of a wow factor. Now that I'm home, looking back on the day I think it was really a good one.
:-)

19 comments:

  1. You are indeed privy to some of the most breathtakingly beautiful vistas, even the just good ones make my jaw drop :)
    What a lovely hike, I'm glad you enjoyed your day !
    ~Jo

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  2. It seems to me that your day always has a lot of wow factor.. at least that's what I keep saying when I read about your hikes and see the photos. Wow!

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  3. I wish I had your energy (and time!) You just have the most fantastic adventures and see some pretty darn good country!

    Thanks for your comments . . . ironically (or maybe not!) my PT told me much the same thing this afternoon. I'm doing great, trust myself, etc. I appreciate your reminder to be more accepting of the progress I'm making!

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  4. From my perspective the wow was there. Thanks for sharing.

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  5. Sorry you had no wow factor today but it looks like a lovely hike to me. Your lush greens are always candy to my eyes.

    Today we had sunshine, 93 degrees and blowing dust. Can I come visit your green?

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  6. That was a big wow factor for me!! Spectacular view of the lake and the mountains...and the falls look great, too. Hey, I love where you ate lunch! If Al's shot was good, I hope he lets you share it.
    Have a super Tuesday, Lady! :)

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  7. mmm yeah still looking like lots of fun to me...and still got the wow...

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  8. Your long shot of the lake's cool calmness was enough for me, DJan.

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  9. Huh...I think you're kind of spoiled, MissDjan...lol

    That looks like a lot of wow factor to this poor old flatlander...

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  10. Al definitely gave the river shot perspective. It looked like a wonderfully above average hike!

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  11. Perhaps you are getting used to all the beautiful hikes and breath taking moments, as TO ME, I see each of your journey's/hikes as extraordinary - our scenery here in the east is fishing boats, ocean and many, many beaches with very HIGH HILLS, not mountains n lots n lots of trees. You are indeed among the priviledged to take in all the beauty that surrounds you. My beauty is a different sort, yet in its own way still breathtaking. When all the boats are nestled in the harbour and the sun is setting it just warms my heart. I very much enjoyed your post and loved the photos, especially the falls.
    Thank you, Lilly

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  12. I really like the views you get from your hikes. I suppose I could get similar views if I hiked in the mountains in Hawaii, but, as you know, I tend to be sedentary.

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  13. I've run out of superlatives for your hikes D-Jan so suffice to say that I'm reading, enjoying and looking forward to the next one. Will that do?
    Enjoy your shower!

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  14. I love the turquoise colored water in the third photo. Now that for me is wow! I love how you find the wow in whatever you do...even if it's just a little wow. I live on completely flat land...so the photos of your hiking trips are a huge wow factor for me. Even the little wows are outstanding. It must be so fun hiking these trails. The closest we have here is Starved Rock State park...but there are no mountains...maybe a few small water falls...seeing your photos are great fun for me...I am after all an arm chair traveler...so thanks DJan.

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  15. I wonder if anyone hikes as much as you do. You cover a lot of ground.

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  16. Interesting how your mind was changing during the post. My day was getting a load of shavings for my garden.
    The shavings are free but I have to listen to David for a couple of hours. It's a fair price. David's pretty interesting to listen to.

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  17. To tell the truth I'm quite sure the memories of these wonderful vistas you will always carry with you. And your descriptions and feelings convey the "wow" factor quite nicely.... :)

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  18. Looks like a pretty good hike to me! The scenery is awesome:)

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  19. those pictures are so cool and refreshing... feels heavenly with the heatwave we've been suffering through here this August!
    Keep enjoying your gorgeous part of the world DJan! :o)

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