Burnout Point and Fragrance Lake

Group at Samish Bay viewpoint

Well, for a day that I thought — no, was SURE — was going to be a complete washout, it turned out to be just fine! Fifteen Senior Trailblazers showed up on a day when we were supposed to have a half an inch of rain by noon. It wasn't raining when we started out, and as you can see here, after an hour's hike we are still not in the rain. It was a little windy, however, so we didn't hang out here too awfully long.

Hiking ever upward

The first half of the hike is on old logging roads, like the one you see here. We gain plenty of elevation, just going up and up, all of us trudging upwards at different speeds. I was back in the pack but making steady upward progress. Once we reach the top, we have another wonderful view.

Melanie at the view at our highest point

By this time we had done most of the elevation we must climb on this hike, and then we headed back down another trail, which leads us to the South Lost Lake trail. Once we started down the path, we were soon hiking in forest instead of on old logging roads.

A little muddy

You can see the condition of the trail, plenty of mud and less-than-optimal circumstances, but by this time we had only experienced short bouts of rain. Notice the pack cover, added since the last picture. From here, the trail goes downhill until we get to the Fragrance Lake junction. We headed there, one of our favorite spots to have lunch, and settled in for a nice break.

Nice and dry in the light rain

I enjoyed my lunch and the conversation, remarking on how much better the day turned out than we had expected. Yes, there was a little rain, but nothing like we thought we'd have. We were actually having fun!

Kirk, Joy, Jay, Dave

If you look at the people sitting on the log in the picture above, you can see who those people are in this front view. Kirk's poncho shows that it's raining lightly, but nobody is having a problem with it. Although you cannot see him, Mikey is at the end of that log, too.

Twisty tree by Fragrance Lake

I saw the bend in this tree and thought it was very interesting. Cindi, who was next to me in the car on the way home, saw this picture and said it looks like a dinosaur, stretching its neck to see above the trees. Once she said that, it's all I can see when I look at it!

Fragrance Lake today

And finally, a picture of the lake before we started the two miles or so downhill back to the cars. By the time we were all done, we had climbed and descended 2,200 feet and 8.7 miles. Some of us wanted to round that last number up to 9, but the truth is that it was a bit less. Now, if we'd gone another tenth of a mile, 8.8, I would have rounded it up in a flash. I wonder why that is. Anyway, I'm tired, I'm glad I went, and now I can enjoy stretching out my tired muscles. My hip is 95% back to normal, but I must continue my exercises to get it all the way back!
:-)