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| Ten of us set out from this trailhead |
I finally got straight how come this hike is confused with another one in my mind: they both start from this trailhead, but they follow different trails to reach separate destinations. Okay, that makes sense. Ten Senior Trailblazers gathered this morning to head up near the top of Stewart Mountain, which Al and I began last Monday. We didn't go the whole way Monday because it began to rain, but today we made it all the way to the top, even though the weather wasn't truly wonderful. We last hiked this trail on my 69th birthday, which I wrote about
here. It snowed and made for some cool pictures; today was a mixture of everything
except snow.
This hike is mostly on nice trails, although a bit steep, but even the old logging roads are pretty and arrayed in wonderful green foliage right now, with flowers everywhere. We made a turn off this road onto a very beautiful trail. Even though it became very steep, it was quite lovely, except for the muddy spots. And the stinging nettle. Life is not perfect, but today came pretty close.
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| Diane, Steve, Mike, Al, Rita |
We made it out of the trees and onto the old road again, our destination. However, the trees had grown quite a lot and gave us no view, so we hiked on the road for a few more minutes until we got a view of Bellingham, the bay, and the sea in the distance behind.
You can also see that the sun might be shining somewhere, but we were even with the top of the clouds, with Bellingham sitting in the middle of the picture. The breeze was cold, so we bundled up and had a quick lunch before heading back down the way we came. Some sprinkled raindrops made us hustle to get back into the trees. And when we did, suddenly the fog got fairly thick, but it was mixed with the sunlight breaking through. I thought this picture, which shows the trail, the fog, and the spotty sunlight, really captured our day.
The variety of today's hike was amazing. Every once in awhile I would be too warm and would need to shed some clothes; in a few minutes I would be cold again and needing to put them back on! We were plenty tired by the time we reached the cars, but satisfied that we covered almost nine miles and hiked up and down 2,600 feet of elevation. Not an easy hike, but it made for a fine day, filled with adventure, plenty of laughter, and the best company!
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| Almost finished |
:-)
Wow, what an incredible hike. I could imagine you shedding clothes when it got warm and then donning them when it got cold again. Lol. It's nice to be with friends in such a pleasant environment.
ReplyDeletereally like that 2nd to last shot of filtered sun all the way down to mossy tree trunks. :)
ReplyDeletewow...all those trees are just gorgeous...and that hard line sky, all the white and such vivid blue below...no snow that. that is rather sad...smiles..sounds like a fun adventure indeed...
ReplyDeleteWhat a stunning photo, with the dog and sunlight vying for space in the trees. This hike sounds like it was great.
ReplyDeleteOh well, I type too fast. DOG is sposed to be FOG!
ReplyDeleteIt's really amazing how steep some of the old logging trails are. It's the same here some trails are old logging trails. It's surprising that even in the National parks there are logging trails. We take one part way to get to the toe of the Saskatchewan Glacier
ReplyDeleteI love to enlarge your photos and try and get the feel of "being" there; I know that being there must be incredible, but so are the photos that you shared today. Beautiful, Jan...simply beautiful!! Thank you for taking us along on your hike.
ReplyDeleteHugs and love,
Jackie
What a lovely photo deep in the forest with the sun shining in! Looks like another great day for you! :)
ReplyDeleteOh DJan, I love the shot of the sunlight filtering through those tall trees. I hope everyone enlarges your photos to get the full effect.
ReplyDeleteWhy does most everyone have on high boots? Or, are those leg warmers? I don't remember you all in boots before this hike. Regardless, it is all so beautiful!
ReplyDeleteI love the greenness of this time of year here in the PNW, even if it takes all this rain to keep it that way.
ReplyDeleteSo much fun - in such beautiful surroundings with good company as well. It would be hard to ask for more.
ReplyDeleteWhat a lush area of the country you live and hike in. Just beautiful. I am always impressed with how far you hike and that you are usually tired at the end but that doesn't stop you from going on the next one. There are many kinds of tired, you have found the "good" one.
ReplyDeleteOh wow.. that sunlit foggy shot is stunning. What a beautiful scene, perfectly captured. And it's about time they named a mountain after you. ;)
ReplyDeleteOnce again, thank you for sharing such a wonderful experience in both words and photos. The deep-woods photo makes me want to get out into the trees soon.
ReplyDeleteI am so envious. I should not be envious of this adventure, but I am. I am so hoping I can get this old heart of mine under control so I can begin to hike again. I was such a hiker in my youth. I miss the extremes in temperatures, sunshine, rain, and mist that one encounters on such occasions. In the meantime, thanks for sharing this with us. I can almost smell the pine.
ReplyDeleteThat picture of the tall trees and the foggy sun looks almost mystical. Can just hear your contentment and the sense of accomplishment in your words. :)
ReplyDeleteAs usual you gave such a wonderful account of what was likely was quite strenuous. 9 Miles! Steep inclines weather changes and stills smiling and content. I very much like the fog picture. I can envision how beautiful that scene would have been. Thanks for sharing.
ReplyDeleteScenery is just stunning and would be so incredible to walk through. Those TALL trees do make one feel very small - what a beautiful forest - I knew you meant FOG. hehe Have a wonderful day DJan.
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing your hikes. The photos are incredible. I just finished reading A Walk in the Woods and I think I would prefer your approach to hiking--one day at the time with lots of friends, and back to civilization at the end of the day.
ReplyDeleteWow!!! Breathtaking. Not only the steep hill climb, but the views...wow.
ReplyDelete[love the one of the misty air and the sunlight filtering through the tall pine!]
All your hiking photos have given me the incentive to do a little hike. Once my China and other hullabaloo slows down, we have some friends with whom we plan to do another hike. You are an inspiration!
ReplyDeleteYour first sentence sent me on a search that ended at this page:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.randomhouse.com/wotd/index.pperl?date=19970501
Thanks for the unexpected lesson! :-)