British Army Trail to Lizard and Lily Lakes

Sign off old logging roads

Thank heavens for search engines! I knew that sometime when we hiked this trail before, I had researched why this particular trail on Blanchard Mountain is called the "British Army Trail." You can find out here, my post from two years ago, also in March. Turns out that we always seem to hike this trail during mid-March, and from my posts I've learned that we always seem to luck out with the weather.

The long group of hikers

Today was projected to be sunny, and it was, causing seventeen Senior Trailblazers to show up to hike this trail today. Al decided to do a one-way trip, starting from one place and ending up at another. The drivers took their cars to the ending spot, after they had deposited the rest of us at the start, and then we waited until Mike appeared in his car with the drivers so we could start the hike.

Lizard Lake

The British Army Trail ends at Lizard Lake, and by this time the sun had broken through any lingering fog, giving us clear blue skies. It wasn't exactly warm, but the sun helped make us very comfy, as long as we were moving. After going to the lake, we decided to head up to North Butte, not exactly on the schedule, but it was such a fine day that is where we went to sit down and have lunch.

Lunch spot at North Butte

The only real problem with this lovely spot is that it's on the north side (hence the name) and didn't have any direct sunlight. There were spots of sun that broke through the trees behind us, but nobody really minded because it was actually quite a spectacular view of Samish Bay, with a little fog still hanging around below us.

Samish Bay through the clouds

After lunch we headed down to Lily Lake, which looks almost exactly like Lizard; I didn't get any really good shots. We then started back to the Lower Trailhead at Barrel Springs Road, which was quite a bit longer than the first part of our hike.

Sun-dappled trail

By the time I took this picture, I was getting very tired. Before we got back to the cars, we had traveled almost nine-and-a-half miles (again!) and gone up and down 2,100 feet of elevation. I felt every step in that last mile, and I know I wasn't alone in my tiredness. Rita (with a cast on her arm) was with us, and I could tell she was tired, too, but she gamely continued on without complaint.

First skunk cabbage of 2014

However, Al pointed out a sure sign of spring: skunk cabbage growing in the mud, happily beginning its journey to become really huge plants that have a definite odor of, well, skunk. I've grown to love that smell, and now as I sip my wine and enjoy my reclining position, the day has already morphed into perfection! Gone are the moans and groans (unless I stand up), and there's no doubt I'll sleep well tonight.
:-)