Scott Paul trail 2013

Misty day on the Scott Paul trail

After six Trailblazers drove 65 miles to get to the Scott Paul trailhead, we hoped it would be sunny, after a foggy start. But the picture above told the tale for most of the day: occasional sun breaks, but mostly dense misty fog coming up the valleys. It made for pretty much perfect hiking conditions, though. We knew there were great views that we were not seeing as we hiked the trail, but it was so pleasant that nobody minded much.

Heather in the mist

We saw lots of pink and white heather in bloom, as well as amazing profusions of lupines. I remembered last year we saw so many lupines that I realized for the first time they do indeed have a scent. We were just a bit early this year, however; next week the lupines will be in their full glory.

Amy crossing a stream

We had several water and stream crossings today; it was very refreshing after so many hikes lately with little to no water. It's been the driest July in fifty years, I learned today. We thought there might be lots of snow, but this snow field was the only one we had to cross that was on any kind of slope. Here is Rita crossing while Amy and Mike strapped on their Yak-Trax.

The only snow crossing

As you can see, we still didn't have any sunshine, and it was getting to be time to stop for a quick lunch. We found a nice place to rest and pull out our vittles, and we thought perhaps we'd give the skies a chance to clear and give us a bit of view.

Our lunch spot

While we were sitting and chatting, I happened to look up behind me, and what did I see but the fog beginning to lift, and giving us a view of Mt. Baker!

There she is!

Ah, we thought, the day is now going to get sunny and hot, and we'll have views from now on. But this was actually the only panorama we had, as the clouds started to fill in again right after I snapped this picture. This was both good and bad, since the temperatures dropped but so did the views!

Lupines on either side of the trail

As we headed down to the suspension bridge, the lupines and other wildflowers were pretty amazing in their profusion. Although the sun was hidden in fog, I couldn't help but exclaim at the abundance of the flowers we saw as we walked to the bridge.

Suspension bridge

We each crossed this bridge one at a time, since it would start swinging and swaying in uncomfortable ways when more than one person was on it at a time. It was fun but I was glad when I was safely on the other side. After we crossed it and climbed up into the next valley, it became really pretty and serene as we made our way to the final stream crossing. I brought along some water shoes, and Mike used some flip-flops, but everyone else just walked right on through, since we were only a mile from the trailhead.

Although she's smiling, her boots are filling with water!

We stopped on the other side to wring out socks and pour water out of hiking boots, but I have to say that all in all, it was a wonderful day, filled with adventure and great company. We missed our regulars who are all out doing other things right now, but we know they will be back in the near future to share more exciting adventures with us!
:-)