Rainy walk today

Dark morning

I knew when Mel and I set out for our Thursday walk that it would be raining, since it rained all night and the forecast is for another several inches before it is all over. The rest of our Senior Trailblazers stuck with the schedule and went to Blanchard Mountain (I think) to hike up to Lily and Lizard Lakes. Insted, we went over to the Interurban trail from the Chuckanut trailhead, which would give us a chance to turn around quickly if it got too bad.

But no, it was actually rather nice. Although as you can see from the picture above, many of the leaves are on the ground already, mostly blown down during our last windstorm. I wore two raincoats, thinking I could stay dry that way, but I got too hot and had to remove one. 

Diamonds on the maple branches

This trail is open and flat the entire way, with the exception of one spot of uphill and downhill, very short but enough to give us a total of 600 feet up and down. After we had been out for a while, the rain lessened enough for us to be quite comfortable.

Waterfall and fall foliage

There weren't that many chances for pictures, but I did enjoy this waterfall, which in previous visits was not as lively as it was today. The fall leaves add a nice accent, don't you think? I remember one time when it was so full that it splashed all the way across the trail, but not today (so far at least).

Misty and rather damp trail

We chatted as we walked, enjoying the coming and going of the rain, and being thankful that we have such an interesting trail right here in town. Here's a little information about it from Wikipedia:

The Interurban Trail is a rail trail in Whatcom County, Washington. It runs 6.6 miles between Fairhaven and Larrabee State Park in the Bellingham area. Popular with hikers and bicycles, the trail runs parallel to Chuckanut Drive through the Chuckanut Mountains.

The fact that it is a "rail trail" explains its flatness, since it once was a rail bed. It also gave us occasional glimpses of Bellingham Bay.

Peeking out at the bay

 It was a really nice way to spend our Thursday, hiking together on a flat and really pretty trail. We managed to get seven miles out of it, and on the way back the rain really began to pick up, making me very happy to be heading home and not somewhere out in the middle of it, with a long way back to safety. All in all, I think we made a great decision!

:-)