Sugarloaf and Mt. Erie 2017

On the trail

Today a grand total of sixteen Senior Trailblazers went out to hike up Sugarloaf Mountain and Mt. Erie in the Anacortes area, one of our usual wintertime hikes. Last year I had to be hauled off the mountain because I tore the meniscus in my right knee. It just went out on me, and I thought I'd be out for weeks or months, but it healed up pretty quickly, with proper care and treating it with RICE (rest, ice, compression, elevation). Today I was able to do the entire trip, although my hip is now my nemesis, but even it is coming along well.

Arriving at the Sugarloaf summit

We start this hike at Heart Lake trailhead in the Anacortes Community Forest Lands (ACFL), with lots and lots of options to choose from that take us to many different possible destinations. We always visit Sugarloaf first and then head down the trail and over to Mt. Erie.

The ACFL trail sign

As you can see from the sign, the only users of this part of the trail are hikers (that's us); the other users are blocked. We didn't see anybody other than us until we got to the top of Mt. Erie, which is accessible by car as well as by trail.

On our way to the Mt. Erie summit

Our weather was overcast for the entire day, but nobody minded too much since it wasn't raining. We knew it was supposed to get better as the day wore on, but by the time we reached the Mt. Erie summit, it was still cloudy. But the view was wonderful!

As always, a wonderful view

That's Campbell Lake in the foreground and Cornet Bay behind. That little "stick" in the middle of the bay is Ala Spit, which we also visit regularly in the winter. On really fine days we can see Mt. Rainier in this view, but today it was not to be. I didn't mind too much, though, it was really nice.

Ellen admiring the view

And then we settled down for a nice lunch at the top, donning a bit more clothing to stay warm as we ate our lunches. I am in the habit of bringing brownies from the Great Harvest Bread Company to share with everybody, and Melanie captured me handing out brownies to everybody, but I'll share that at another time, since this picture of everybody having lunch was just too good not to use it.

Another fine place to have lunch

And then it was time to head back to the cars and to our respective homes. The return trip was a little more hilly, with a lot of ups and downs that I didn't expect (it was a different route back), but we managed. We almost always do.

Nice and dry, but a little early for flowers

The season is almost on time, maybe a little late, but last year we experienced a tad earlier than normal spring. We didn't see any flowers in bloom. Peggy saw one trillium but it hadn't opened yet. We did manage to cover 7-and-a-half miles and up and down around 2,300 feet of elevation in that distance. My hip managed just fine, although there were moments when I thought it might seize up on me, but it never did. And guess what? Just as we reached the cars, the skies cleared!!

Accidental selfie

On the way back, I tried to capture some of the trees in full bloom, and accidentally captured this picture of myself taking the picture! I laughed when I saw it and knew I would need to share it with my friends, so you can see how nice the day turned out and how determined I am to show you what we experienced today. I hope you enjoyed our day as much as we did.
:-)