Chuckanut Falls and fun guys

I couldn't resist the play on words in the title. This is a picture of Chuckanut Falls, my first time seeing it, with a great fun guy in the foreground. That's what we kept calling all the fungi we saw on our hike today. Ten Senior Trailblazers set out on a one-way trip using a shuttle system. We left one car at one place, drove to another and then shuttled back after we were done. It worked out quite well, and the best part is that it never really rained today! Although we didn't have any sun and it was quite cold (below 40 deg F, 4.5 C), we hiked on some parts of the Chuckanut trail system that were new to most of us. The trail going to the falls is relatively new, and we knew we were headed in the right direction when we saw this sign.

Notice all the leaves on the trail, too. Yesterday it was windy enough to get all the rest of them off the trees and onto the ground. It rained and blew all day long, so we suspected we would have a not-so-nice day, but it was more than adequate. Peggy found this one leaf that amazed me with its size. The leaf is from a large-leaf maple tree (no kidding)!

Steve led our group today, as Al had a family illness going on. I must say that, although we missed Al, Steve was a very capable leader. I could never have found my own way through all the twists and turns we went on to end up back at our single car, but he never missed a beat. He has a very droll sense of humor, so there were times when he was pulling my leg and I didn't know it. Here's a picture of our lunch stop, with Fred behind the camera.

That's Steve on the right in the blue hat, with me, Peggy and Amy having our lunch. Behind the tree on the extreme right are Marjan and Frank, and four others are not pictured. As you can see, we weren't all that warm, but believe me: any day when we are ready for rain and we get just a few sprinkles is a good one! We took a side trail to Raptor Ridge and intended to have lunch there, but there was no view and a very brisk, cold wind greeted us instead. Along the trail, Amy had the gumption to stick her hand in this hole. Who knows what animals could have been lurking in there! She actually stuck her entire head inside, looked around and declared, "it's hollow." Good thing!

All in all, it was a really good day. I would have gone even if it had been storming and raining when I left the house, because next Thursday is Thanksgiving and we will not be hiking. The dark, overcast days leave me in need of time spent outdoors, and it's always hard to make myself go unless I know I'll be in good company. Today we covered more than nine miles and almost 1,800 feet of elevation, so it was a moderate hike when we were expecting a hard one. Steve isn't nearly the slave driver that Al is!
:-)