Thursday, January 7, 2016

Alger Alp 2016

Frozen Squires Lake this morning
Twelve Senior Trailblazers met this morning to take a nice hike from the Squires Lake trailhead up to the top of Alger Alp. It's not a long or hard hike, but we did expect to get a little more sunshine than we actually ended up having. We took off from the Senior Center for the short drive south, with patchy fog that looked very much like it would lift momentarily.
The group almost to the top
It wasn't warm, but since we were moving uphill and had no wind, we needed to shed clothes fairly soon. It always amazes me how quickly physical activity warms me, raising my metabolism and hopefully helping me to burn more calories than I eat. The trail we took to the top takes us by the lake and a beaver pond before we end up on old logging roads up to a viewpoint.
Al in the sunshine at the top
By the time we reached the top, it looked like we would finally be in sunshine. We had climbed far above the fog in the valley and the sky above looked mostly clear. But, as nice as it was for those few minutes, the clouds ended up winning out. I always love to take pictures with fog because the scenes look so magical.
The fog covers up I-5 heading North/South
We could hear the traffic from I-5 down below us, but it looked more like a fairyland than an interstate highway. The mountain across the valley is Blanchard Mountain, which we have climbed many times. To the north (left) lies Bellingham. Whenever we would stop for any length of time, all of us began to get cold, so soon after I took this picture we decided to head back down to Squires Lake and find a nice spot in the sunshine to have lunch. We found the nice spot, all right, but the sun was long gone.
Frozen Squires Lake at lunchtime
I used a "noir" filter on this picture, since it was already very silvery looking and without much color. The lake was still frozen pretty hard, and every time one of the guys would see a likely looking rock, he would skip it across the frozen lake, making an interesting pok-pok-pok sound. (You can see a rock in the middle of the picture sitting on the ice, if you look closely.)

We covered about six miles and 1,400 feet of elevation up and down, not a long or hard hike, but very satisfying, with wonderful company and getting me home to my warm abode at an early hour. Now I am writing my obligatory post before settling in for a nice little rest. I wouldn't want my hiking friends to wonder whether or not they had a good time. We did indeed!
:-)

16 comments:

  1. Love that frozen scene at the end. I am going to think about that with longing over the next few days as our temperatures climb again.
    Thank you. And of course you had a good time. Enjoying yourself is your default setting.

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  2. Just another wonderful day in the mountains!

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  3. I always got a thrill every time we climbed and were above the clouds. One time a thunderstorm went through the valley below and that was scary. There were all kinds of crackling , so we got off the top of the mountain very quickly.

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  4. It never cleared here south of Seattle at all today. We went out for a walk about 3:30 and it was already beginning to get dark when we got home. But at least we didn't get rained on!

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  5. Nice photos. I too am always amazed at how quickly physical activity warms me up -- and helps me sleep better too.

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  6. I love your photos of the low-lying clouds. Good to get outside despite the cold!

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  7. When I see that you have posted, I know that I am in for a treat with your photographs.
    Beautiful, Jan....
    And I'm glad that you are enjoying the outdoors in your winter wonder land. (Frozen lakes! I cannot even imagine. I've never seen one.)
    Warm hugs,
    Jackie

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  8. Wow, all these pictures are beautiful, but that last one is stunning!

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  9. I love those fog photos. It's so pretty. You know what? We haven't been hiking in a long, long time. I shall have to mention that to Art. It looks like you guys have so much fun!

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  10. Incredible beauty. Fog just HAS to be one of the most beautiful phenomenons of weather patterns in my opinion.

    Love the photo of Al searching the distance in deep thought...enjoying all the tranquility within.

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  11. Yes, you posted this summary of your walk earlier than usual. Congratulations.

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  12. Thew fog is kind of magical! :)

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  13. Love how fog softens and often erases traces of man. Too bad it couldn't halt the sound also.
    That was so neat seeing Al highlighted by the sun.

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  14. i loved the shot of al sitting in the sun with the foggy view behind/below. :)

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  15. These photos all had such a mystical look. Loved it. DJan, you awesome woman you, I love that you just keep on keeping on.

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  16. That is a great photo with Al in the corner! Another great hike! :)

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