Madrone Crest

Trailhead

Another trip up the Chuckanuts with my friend Melanie. As you can see here, there is plenty of cottonwood white stuff along the trail. Not snow, but just looking at it makes me want to sneeze.

Trail with sunlight

This is such a lovely area that I never get tired of coming here. Last week and the week before we had different endpoints in this area, but some of the trail is the same. By this time in the season, we are usually heading up to the High Country, so it's a real treat to see all the lovely green that I usually don't see. By midsummer much of this will be dry and turning brown, but today it was perfect.

Mt Baker through the trees

Melanie took this picture with her phone from the viewpoint at Madrone Crest. Her phone does a much better job than mine when zoomed all the way out. The weather was perfect, and we spent a short while here before heading back down.

Melanie

I asked Melanie for a picture of her t-shirt and mask, showing what a conscientious hiker looks like in the Pacific Northwest today. I love the message on her shirt. It was warm enough today we didn't need any extra clothes. We don't wear our masks unless we see people coming, but she accommodated me for the picture.

Dappled sunlight

This is what the Madrone Crest trail looked like today. So many little white flowers, massive greenery, and two happy hikers. We covered 6.5 miles and 1,200 feet up and down.

And now I must admit that my lower back was in terrible pain on the downhill sections going back to the cars. As the week wore on, I believed my back was almost back to normal, but I'm afraid it isn't. Melanie acted as my coach and kept me going, but I think it's time for me to visit the acupuncturist at the earliest time I can see him, pandemic or not. By the time I began to experience spasms in the right sacrum, we were almost back to the cars. And once we were close enough that I could will it to relax, I was even able to smile! I think right now I'm limited in distance and elevation, but at least I know better: next week, no more than five miles.
:-)