Thursday, April 6, 2017

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!
:-)

14 comments:

  1. It looks lovely, and I can so see that dinosaur. Thank you - and Cindi.

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  2. An ambitious walk for fit people of any age! Well done! The hip is responding to the exercise for sure!

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  3. I thought of you and your hiking buddies as the rain settled in here for most of the morning. The rain stopped for the afternoon and we got out for our walk. Now it is mostly clear and the sun is shining!

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  4. After all the description of your hikes I've concluded that you never have as dry conditions as we have all the time. So we have lots of dry and sunny. I only remember one day when we hiked in the rain all day. Colorado must have been dry.

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  5. Another great hike! Your hip must be doing pretty good! No flowers today, maybe next week the rain will bring some to your hike:)

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  6. I think I could do this trail with you hardy souls, rain and all.

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  7. Your hip must be on the mend to cope with the ups and downs of that hike. It's never about the weather but all about the clothes we wear. Ponchos rule.

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  8. You northwesycoasters sure cope with the rain quite well!

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  9. Glad the rain held off for your hike!

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  10. Beautiful! I loved seeing the low hanging clouds in the background!

    Wasn"t a downpour...so it was tolerable & fun.

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  11. That's a great photo of everyone in their wet ponchos. Troupers all! They probably enjoyed jumping in mud puddles as kids.

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  12. Nice hike. Glad that it did not rain that much.

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  13. I'm glad your hip is so much better. What a great climb and hike- even in the rain. I'm not much of a fan of mud, but it doesn't look like it was too bad. Have a lovely SUnday!

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  14. You are totally amazing! You all are. Art will tell you that you would probably not find me out on a hike if there was a remote chance of rain and muddy trails.

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