British Army Trail and more

Stream crossing

I sure didn't expect to see sixteen Senior Trailblazers show up on a day when it was forecast to rain all or most of the day, and on a hike that is definitely not one of our favorites, the British Army Trail on Blanchard Mountain. It's rather long and spends a good deal of the day on old logging roads. It's part of the PNT (Pacific Northwest Trail) and was constructed by PNT volunteers and visiting British Army soldiers during the late 1990s. We started from the Upper Trailhead parking lot, after having dropped a car off at our ending point. This would allow us to make a one-way hike, which we did last year. I wrote about it here. It was sunny then, but today we expected any minute to be in rain. We were ready.

Time to strip off some layers

But since the rain didn't seem to be coming, other than a little drop or two (nothing for us seasoned Pacific Northwesterners), we stopped to take off most of our rain gear. It was very mild and I soon realized I too was wearing way too many clothes. After this stop I was much more comfy.

Must be a woodpecker heaven

I saw this tree that looked like a sieve, with all those holes. We speculated that it must have lots of beetles and other tasty treats for the woodpeckers to find under the bark. Our hike took us to Lily and Lizard Lakes, but we didn't see any lilies or lizards today. It was too early to stop for lunch by the time we got to Lily Lake, so we headed on over to Lizard Lake for our lunch stop.

Stopping at Lizard Lake for lunch

By the time we got to Lizard Lake and pulled out our lunch and made ourselves comfortable, it still wasn't raining. Just a few little drops on the lake, but nothing really. I walked around the area and found this recent tree cut down by a beaver or two:

Stump with lots of cuttings and the tree next to it

I looked at this endeavor and wondered whether the tree simply sheared off once they got it close to finished. The top of the stump doesn't have any teeth marks, and the position of the tree makes me think the tree just gave up. I guess beavers must know about the way a tree is going to fall, since I haven't seen any dead bodies lying around, but plenty of felled trees.

Trillium bud

And look! A trillium just getting ready to open. Now I know that spring is really here. I'll be seeing more and more of these as the time goes by. When they are gone in the lowlands, we will be hiking in the High Country and seeing them there. It was so nice to say hello to my first one of the season.

This sign shows the section dedicated to the British Royal Army

By the time we got to this point, we were all ready for the hike to be done. But we still had miles to go before we got to the car, most of it on logging roads. Before it was all over, we had covered more than nine miles and 2,000 feet of elevation gain and loss. You would think I'd get used to it, but I was very tired by the end. The five drivers piled into the one car and drove to our starting point to get the other cars. Since it wasn't raining, the rest of us didn't mind the wait too much.

It started to rain once we got in the cars

On the way back to the Senior Center, we got rain! Once we were inside the cars, the heavens opened up. Do you think somebody was watching out for the Senior Trailblazers? I do! It was a nice way to end a day where we all got lots of exercise and stayed (mostly) dry!
:-)