Thursday, December 11, 2014

Raindrops keep falling on us

Karen, Peggy, Chris, Lisa, Rich, Doug, Kirk, Al
On a day when we knew ahead of time that we would have weather, not sunshine, nine of us met to hike from the North Chuckanut Trailhead up to Raptor Ridge and beyond. Although rain and wind were forecast, it seemed that we might be able to avoid the worst of it if we got started early enough. At 8:20am, we set off on the trail, with no rain to speak of and made it to Chuckanut Falls. The above picture was taken with my flash, since the day was dark. It felt like twilight, even though the sun was somewhere up there.
Chuckanut Falls
There was more water than I've seen before coming down the falls, probably because of all the rain we've been having. The temperature was very mild and without wind and rain, so at this point were excited that we might luck out. I took one more picture of these three, because the tree behind them needed to be decorated for the season (smile). We discussed the fact that here in the Pacific Northwest, moss grows all the way around the trees, not just on the north-facing side.
Karen, Peggy, Chris
Not long after I took this picture, the rain began in earnest. We thought if we hustled into our rain gear, it might get the message and stop. We hiked up to Huckleberry Point for a view, but the only one I got was of these two guys.
Kirk and Doug with a teeny bit of view
And a few minutes later, I realized that though it was quite warm, I was not staying dry in the steady rain. By the time we had lunch at Raptor Ridge (no view there, either), we decided that maybe it would be a good idea to just turn around and go home, as the rain was picking up, not diminishing. We shortened the hike considerably, but still got almost eight miles in before we reached the cars.
Mist in the trees
It's not easy to see the rain coming down, but I captured this misty view as we hurried back. Rich's yellow pack cover adds just the right amount of color to the scene. We were maybe a mile from the trailhead when the rain turned into a deluge. Once we got back to the cars, we quickly peeled off our wet gear and sped back to the Senior Center. I was able to wring water out of my gloves and have noticed that my rain gear needs some more work before I'll be comfy in something like this. I'll work on it.

The positive points of today's hike: good company, the wind stayed away, and we were back home early enough to have an entire afternoon to spend doing something else!
:-)

19 comments:

  1. at least you went (relatively) prepared for it! :) moss is crazy healthy there!

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  2. I am asumming your travel times to and from these hikes is very short. It would take us at least two hours each way to get to places like this to hike.

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  3. Amazing. All that rain, all that glorious moss - and your tenacity. You rock.

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  4. The frustrating thing is that you almost got lucky and had a good day

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  5. Well at least you didn't get the high winds along with the rain on your hike. At one point today we had sustained winds of 46 mph with gusts of 62. I love all that pretty green moss.

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  6. I don't know DJan - eight miles - seems like quite a walk to me. That's a wonderful distance with the conditions not being the best. I am very impressed with all the moss on the trees I do spend a lot of time out of doors and also in the worst weather. I do Photography in all kinds of weather and whatever else is thrown at us weatherwise. Recently, I bought some new gear for wet weather and tested it out in our recent hurricane/nor'easter - I was out in it most of the day and its the first time I came home dry. I had my ipad in my waterproof pouch and it too was dry. I was in all areas of our town as well as the back ridges that surround our town and still came home dry....I love my new outfit and we are going to share a lot of being dry together. Have a wonderful day.

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  7. I'm glad you can do almost 8 miles and call it a short hike!

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  8. Too bad that you had to shorten your hike.
    As for word verification, Wordpress users have to type those numbers or letters in the box or their comments won't be published by BlogSpot.

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  9. It's so beautiful where you live and not as damn cold as N.H.! My sons may end up in the PacNW. If they do, we're moving.

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  10. Your wet hikes are legendary! Thanks so much for the wonderful shout out displaying my Costa Rica cards. I will be walking that very beach this winter. To get there you have to hike through the jungle. But we love to hike through the jungle! And the beach is amazing. I can't wait. Thanks for all your comments DJan.

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  11. I have been hearing on the news about your rainy weather. Good thing you got a early start to the hike:)

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  12. Sounds like your rain gear needs some serious help! But you guys always enjoy each other's company. :)

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  13. What a pity the rain had no respect for your early start. Still managed some good photos though.

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  14. You all really do enjoy splashing in the puddles. What a lovely bunch of optimists you are.
    Seriously I do hope you all don't get the worst of the weather heading your way. Be safe.

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  15. Eight miles- way to go! That's what I ran this morning in my build up to the 13.1 miles for the half marathon on Feb. 14. Keep moving!

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  16. Eight miles in the rain is something to be proud! You people are a hardy bunch.

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  17. You are a hardy crew! I love that mist in the woods photo. I take it you took those photos with your iPhone? Amazing!!!

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