Pine and Cedar Lakes

Jacqueline laughing, Peggy watching, Ward looking on

I have no idea at the moment what was so funny, but I like the picture, so there you are. Twelve Senior Trailblazers decided to brave the elements today, with rain and cooler weather forecast, but we are a hardy bunch, that's for sure. Right now I am warm and cozy inside my home while the rain pours outside, but we actually had a pretty nice beginning to our hike.

For those who want even MORE uphill

The first mile and a half of this trail off Old Samish Road goes pretty much straight up, gaining 1,300 feet (almost 400 meters) before leveling off somewhat. At that point, the trail above gives you the option of making a loop that will give you even more uphill. Nobody was interested, even though by this point we still had no rain. The temperature was cool but nice for hiking.

Another woodpecker sculpture

This tree caught my eye, with plenty of woodpecker holes that give them access to beetle and other bugs that inhabit mostly dead or dying trees. This tree must have provided plenty of sustenance to the pileated woodpeckers in the neighborhood.

Trillium

We also saw lots and lots of trillium on the hike up to the lakes, as you can see here. They looked pretty good at this point, but by the time we saw them on the way back down, they were drenched and looked bedraggled. We were fortunate to make it all the way past Cedar Lake and over to Pine Lake before the rain started.

Kirk settling down for lunch, pulling out his rain poncho

You can see the raindrops on Pine Lake behind Kirk, but really the rain was gentle and not a downpour while we sat under the trees and had a nice lunch. We discussed whether or not we wanted to head over to Raptor Ridge, but because of the dampness and the cool breeze, we decided to head back down the way we had come.

Boardwalk near Pine Lake

Both Pine and Cedar Lakes have these boardwalks to allow visitors to keep your feet dry (if you don't accidentally step off them), and the picture shows the state of the skunk cabbage today. They grow quite large, but I was rather surprised to find that the bogs on either side of the boardwalk are relatively dry. There have been times when water was right up to the top edge of the walkway.

Pretty log at trailhead

By the time we returned to our starting point, we had traveled a little more than six miles, skipping our usual Raptor Ridge journey that adds another two miles, because we were anxious to avoid the heavier rain that was coming. And come it did: I am so glad we were not out walking around in the elements any longer than we were. The rain did pick up and we would have gotten pretty soggy, so it was a good call. And we got a fairly decent, if shortened, workout with good company.
:-)