Thursday, April 24, 2014

To the Boardwalk at Pine Lake

North Chuckanut trail
Now I know how tough we Senior Trailblazers are: we learned that Al, our leader, would not be joining us today, since he's down with a cold. At 6:30am, I looked outside to see that the rain had become a deluge, and I also learned that more than an inch fell during the night. Sigh. I drove to the Senior Center and parked in the empty parking lot, figuring I might be the only one to show up. But no, within a few minutes, ten of us had gathered in the rain to decide what to do.

Our original destination is difficult to follow, since there are no signs and lots of detours. We decided to go to the Pine Lake trailhead and see what happened. Steve, our leader for the day, wanted to start from the North Chuckanut Trailhead, which was not our usual starting point. It's beautiful, and I really like it!
Carol, Peggy, Diane, Linda, Kirk, Mike, Fred, Ward
Steve is out of the frame, as he is giving us some background about the trail, and I, of course, am behind the camera. It's just sprinkling lightly by this time, and I had even removed my raincoat. I was in the front of the group, as it was my job to set the pace, since Steve walks too fast, and I hike at about the same pace as Al does. We made our way to Pine Lake's boardwalk.
It's slippery and you sure wouldn't want to fall in!
It's raised up to allow you to walk carefully to a nice lunch spot, although it doesn't go all the way around the lake. It was a little early, but we decided to have a nice lunch here before heading back. The rain had started to increase a little bit; you could see raindrops on the lake.
Pine Lake in the mist
We didn't linger very long at lunch, since even though we were protected from the rain while having lunch under the trees, before long those same trees began to drip on us. We donned our rain gear and began our descent back to the cars.
Battening down the hatches for the return trip
We started back, all ready for the rain. But of course, since we had prepared for it, before very long it had almost stopped, and we even saw... sun breaks! Yes, the day had improved immeasurably from its dubious beginnings. And we must have seen several hundred trillium flowers in bloom. It was an amazing display.
One of the many groups of trillium in bloom
We all commented on the fact that we were in this area at just the right time, to see so many trillium flowering all at once. And you might also be able to see the faint hint of sunlight on these very wet leaves. We had covered nine-and-a-half miles and around 1,900 feet of elevation gain and loss by the time we returned to the cars. And not to mention there was sunshine filtered through the trees, right as we finished. We all agreed it was a really good day, and nobody minded a little sprinkle now and then.
:-)

17 comments:

  1. 'Bout now, I wouldn't mind a sprinkle now and then...in fact for a couple of days!!!

    Love the misty lake image DJ!

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  2. LOVE your tenacity. And the walks you take us on.
    Hope Al is feeling better soon. He must have been feeling very miserable indeed to give up on a walk.

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  3. oh, the trilliums!!! and i love how you have defined roles in your hiking group. glad you had asst. managers to step up and fill al's absence. :)

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  4. So nice to see the trillium. It's the province of Ontario's official flower.

    That misty Pine Lake image is just stunning.

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  5. ha you def put me to shame...i cant wait for summer vacation to get out there and enjoy the woods a bit more during the day....a little sprinkle is def not a bad thing...

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  6. You did well without your fearless number one leader. You have to have a very good attitude to hike in the rain.

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  7. What a gorgeous spot, even with the rain. The green is so green I imagine the air smelled of that color!

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  8. What a wonderful adventure! And your control over the weather is amazing!

    Blessings and Bear hugs!

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  9. I guess if you live near the coast you get used to the rain. Here on the dry side, I don't leave the house of the sprinklers are on!

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  10. You guys are just so amazing, DJan! I especially loved that Pine Lake in the Mist photo. Good thing you were prepared for the rain.

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  11. Too bad that Al had a cold and couldn't join you all. But, good you were able to see some Trillium on the way.

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  12. Wowza is it green there or what! A feast for my eyes! I was out yesterday with the dogs...got sopping wet my coat musta weighed an extra 10 pounds. :(

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  13. I just love that new growth green. Wish it would stay that way all year. When it starts here on the mountains, they appear to glow.
    Good thing Al didn't make it as it was so wet. Hope he is better soon but you all did quite well improvising.

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  14. You guys are tough! But I also took a walk today. Across a beautiful green carpet above the Hudson River on a sunny day in the high 50s, chasing a little white ball through the budding trees. Yes, you guessed it: golf.

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  15. These photos today are especially beautiful, but, Oh, that first one! It's the time of the glowing greens and what a glow they have.

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  16. You are a hardy bunch so it isn't surprising ten of you showed up for the hike. Hope Al is feeling better. All of those trillium blooms must have been an awesome sight.

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