Park Butte 2014

The flowers were abundant, but the view, not so much

Twelve Senior Trailblazers made the long drive from Bellingham to Schreiber's Meadow, where we began our usual trek to the lookout at the top of Park Butte. It's a beautiful place, and it was even beautiful today, although as you can see, there was no view. Last year, we had fantastic views, which you can see here, if you want to know what we missed today.

Bridge to help us cross the stream

There have been a few years when there was no bridge to cross this roaring stream, which today was the color of tea, after the rains of the past few days. We were very glad to have it, and at this point we thought the fog might lift to give us some views of Mt. Baker. Nope.

An enjoyable day anyway

We did think that eventually we would have some bit of a view, but it was not to be, not today. However, there was a good chance we would get rained on, and that never happened. We were quite comfortable during our exertions as we made our way to the lookout. It's a very nice little cabin that looks out over the valley below (see the previous year's post for a picture of it from the outside, looking up at it).

Bob, Sue, Paula, Diane, Rita (I took the picture)

Anyway, six of the twelve of us decided to have lunch inside the cabin, while the others stayed below the final push upwards. They knew there would be no view and little reason not to simply stay below. However, Bob, Sue and Paula had never been inside, so we went ahead and had our lunch there. I kept hoping that the fog would miraculously lift and we'd have a great view of the surrounding mountains, but it didn't happen. I wandered out on the railing to see if I could get a shot, and this was the best I was able to capture to show you what it looked like today.

Nobody had lunch on the railing today (see last year's post)

After a leisurely lunch, we headed back down to our cars to head home. By the time we had finished our hike, we'd covered almost eight miles and 2,300 feet up and down. Although it's not a difficult hike, it's also not trivial. I'm feeling the miles and the toll it took on my recently injured knee. It was worth it, though.

The meadow shrouded in fog

Every once in awhile on the way down, I thought the clouds would lift. They would begin to clear, and then come in anew. So we never had a view of the magnificent Mt. Baker that looks close enough to touch, not today anyway. But the company was wonderful, the day was rain-free, and the temperature darn close to perfect. And guess what? On the way home, it began to rain! Somebody was looking out for us, I think. It was a great day.
:-)