All's well that ends well

The view from Burnout Point

Yes, I know I'm on a blogging break, but I couldn't bear not to post about our hike today. Sixteen (!) Senior Trailblazers started our hike from the Lost Lake trailhead. Three cars of four each, and four others who joined us at the trailhead. The weather was mild, with a 20% chance of rain, but we didn't have any at all.

Heading up the Burnout logging road

After that lovely view, we trudged up this service road, instead of taking the South Lost Lake trail. This is not a favorite hike, since much of it is on road like this (not to mention with some serious uphill), but there has been much logging activity and clear cut areas that gave us some views we hadn't had before.

The road and the view

As we ascended to the top of the viewpoint (and you can see a bit of the uphill here), I noticed that some low clouds were beginning to fill in below us.

View, trees, and clouds

I love the low clouds and the way they make the scene look rather mysterious. Once we got to this place, it was early, but we decided to have some lunch anyway. Al said we could call it our "first lunch" and then go down to Fragrance Lake for our "second lunch."

First lunch

It was so mild that some people didn't even put on all their warm clothes when we stopped. But after eating and not moving for awhile, it felt much cooler than when we first sat down. So, after a short break we started down the trail to Fragrance Lake.

Fragrance Lake reflections

It was another day where the lake was as smooth as glass. Not a breath of wind and although it was overcast, it was easy to stay comfy as we ate our "second lunch."

Our final return trail

We were all quite satisfied with our eight-and-a-half-mile hike, up and down around 2,000 feet. We took a wrong turn not long I took this picture, thinking we were returning to the parking lot, but the trail ended with no way to continue. Some smart people turned around and went back to the main trail, but others of us bushwhacked our way downwards to join the main trail.

When we got back to the cars, Melanie realized that somewhere she had lost her iPhone. We discussed what to do and wondered if we had lost it in the bushwhack area, which meant it would be impossible to retrieve. Al suggested that, since she has an iCloud account, she use my phone to log in as herself and see if we could locate it. Although when you try to find your phone you need two-person authentication, there is an emergency button to push in such cases. She did all that, and lo and behold, we discovered that her phone was not far away, and that she had indeed lost it during the bushwhack. My phone now showed a crude map of the area, with an icon for her phone. Al said that when we got close, we could tap the icon and a ping would sound. We walked back to where we had been and guess what? We found it, thanks to the loud ping and determined hikers! It was buried in the bushes and would have been invisible.

But when we got back to the parking lot, it turned out that one of our drivers could not start his car. Fortunately, Melanie had jumper cables, and we were able to eventually get the car going, drove back to the Senior Center, everybody was happy that it all turned out so well. As I said in the title, "all's well that ends well"!
:-)