Burnout Point and Fragrance Lake

The old logging road at the start of the hike

Fifteen Senior Trailblazers met this sunny morning to begin one of our usual wintertime hikes, which we call "Burnout Point from Clayton Beach." Every year we do this one, and somehow or other I always manage to forget about the first half of the hike, which is on old roads like this, and is very steep in several spots. Must be a bit like childbirth: the only reason we have siblings is that we forget how much it hurts. There were times today as I was groaning upwards, wondering how I had forgotten this little fact.

Looking out at Samish Bay

The beautiful sun we had at the beginning of the day began to deteriorate early on, as low clouds emerged to keep me from needing my sun hat, which I carried all day but never used. We always stop at this place, whether or not we have a view, and make some clothing adjustments. And then we trudge to the clearcut at the top. Today we were hoping for a view.

Nope, no view today

The fog and mist made for a rather nice view of the group, and you can see the clearcut hill behind them, with newly planted trees beginning to emerge on the bald spot. In a few years it will look much better. I hope I'll still be taking pictures so I can document the change from year to year.

Lost Lake

You can see Lost Lake from the top, too. We visit this lake at least once each winter. As you can see, we are far above it today; it doesn't look so lost in the mist. There was a bit of a breeze, making us feel rather chilly, so we didn't stick around too long. There wasn't much to see anyway. Off we went, making a loop back down a trail that took us to the south Lost Lake trail.

On our way to Fragrance Lake

We followed this trail until we reached the intersection with the Fragrance Lake trail, and we headed off to the lake for lunch. We were hoping for some sunshine as we made our way around the lake, and we did find some sun breaks among the clouds. When the sun was out, we were warm, and when it hid behind the clouds, it got quite cool.

Mr. and Mrs. Mallard

As soon as we settled down to have lunch, some obviously well-fed mallard ducks headed right over to us, hoping for a handout. We got to enjoy seeing them while we ate our lunch, and a few of us even lobbed them a couple pieces of bread. And then it was time to pack up and head back to the trailhead, down the Fragrance Lake trail.

Returning to the cars

This trail is very well used, as you can see here, but we pass through some old growth forest, and lots and lots of sword ferns. And once we got moving again, we were comfy and warm as we descended. I've been on this trail often enough that it has become familiar, and I know all the twists and turns by heart. Although we covered somewhere under ten miles (9.5), and gained and lost around 2,200 feet, I'm feeling pretty good today. On the last few hikes I've felt really spent at the end of the day while I write this post. This is a good sign, I'm thinking.

Big old tree

We always stop and look at this tree, which I now think of as Peggy's tree because she was the first one to point it out to me. It was obviously marked for logging sometime in the far past, and as you can see the mark has healed up. It's just a beautiful old tree, and I'm glad that for whatever reason we get to enjoy it today.

:-)