It was a dark and stormy hike

Our lunch spot at Lizard Lake

Well, that picture makes it look a LOT less dark and stormy than it felt today. Ten Senior Trailblazers went up to Lily and Lizard Lakes on Blanchard Mountain. I was actually quite shocked that so many Trailblazers decided to brave the elements. I guess many of us are just addicted to this activity; I know I am.

It wasn't like we didn't know what we were getting into, as the weather forecast was for rain and wind, much the same situation we faced all week. Many of our rivers are flooding, and the rain deficit we had earlier in the year is a distant memory. But then again, last week we were expecting a very wet hike considering the forecast, and instead we had a wonderful day.

Al and our fairly nice trail behind him

 We started out well, with just a teeny bit of rain at the beginning. Not enough for a raincoat, and we didn't have the seriously muddy trail I was expecting, either. We headed off to Lily Lake. My pictures today are rather abysmal, since it was so dark for most of the day that I couldn't find much to take pictures of.

Map of today's hike

If all else fails when you don't have pictures, there's always a map. We started on the road from that lower "P" on the right-hand side of the map. We ambled over to Lily Lake, and although the wind was fierce, it came and went. Same with the rain. We knew we were pushing our luck as we made our way to Lizard Lake. It wasn't exactly warm, but it wasn't terribly cold either. Just not all that comfy for a long lunch.

Lizard Lake, looking the other direction from our lunch spot

It was actually raining a little while we had our lunch, but we were mostly protected by the trees, and we gathered up our belongings and had a little conference.

Al showing Sue and Linda our return options

We all decided that, instead of returning the way we had come, we'd take a shortcut and then go back down the Incline Trail. This would mean a mile or so walking on the road rather than hiking trails, but it would shorten the hike significantly. As the weather was blustery and threatening, we took the shorter way in hopes that we would make it back to the cars before we got totally drenched.

And that's just what we did, while the worst of the rain waited for us. Although it was a very dark forest, with little light making it through the forest canopy, we managed to stay relatively dry and mostly protected from the wind. We covered around seven miles anyway, and once I got home and pulled into the driveway, I had to wait for the rain to let up a little before I made a run for the door. I was just so glad we were able to have a relatively nice day in the wilderness. You just never know what awaits you unless you give it a try.
:-)