Raindrops keep falling on us

Karen, Peggy, Chris, Lisa, Rich, Doug, Kirk, Al

On a day when we knew ahead of time that we would have weather, not sunshine, nine of us met to hike from the North Chuckanut Trailhead up to Raptor Ridge and beyond. Although rain and wind were forecast, it seemed that we might be able to avoid the worst of it if we got started early enough. At 8:20am, we set off on the trail, with no rain to speak of and made it to Chuckanut Falls. The above picture was taken with my flash, since the day was dark. It felt like twilight, even though the sun was somewhere up there.

Chuckanut Falls

There was more water than I've seen before coming down the falls, probably because of all the rain we've been having. The temperature was very mild and without wind and rain, so at this point were excited that we might luck out. I took one more picture of these three, because the tree behind them needed to be decorated for the season (smile). We discussed the fact that here in the Pacific Northwest, moss grows all the way around the trees, not just on the north-facing side.

Karen, Peggy, Chris

Not long after I took this picture, the rain began in earnest. We thought if we hustled into our rain gear, it might get the message and stop. We hiked up to Huckleberry Point for a view, but the only one I got was of these two guys.

Kirk and Doug with a teeny bit of view

And a few minutes later, I realized that though it was quite warm, I was not staying dry in the steady rain. By the time we had lunch at Raptor Ridge (no view there, either), we decided that maybe it would be a good idea to just turn around and go home, as the rain was picking up, not diminishing. We shortened the hike considerably, but still got almost eight miles in before we reached the cars.

Mist in the trees

It's not easy to see the rain coming down, but I captured this misty view as we hurried back. Rich's yellow pack cover adds just the right amount of color to the scene. We were maybe a mile from the trailhead when the rain turned into a deluge. Once we got back to the cars, we quickly peeled off our wet gear and sped back to the Senior Center. I was able to wring water out of my gloves and have noticed that my rain gear needs some more work before I'll be comfy in something like this. I'll work on it.

The positive points of today's hike: good company, the wind stayed away, and we were back home early enough to have an entire afternoon to spend doing something else!
:-)