Burnout Point in the rain

Kirk, Mike, Frank, me, Chris, Al, Richard, Rich, Jim (Mel's pic)

It never fails to amaze me that I am not the only one who shows up on wet and rainy days. Today ten (!) Senior Trailblazers showed up in light rain to hike up to Burnout Point, one of our usual winter hikes. We did indeed have rain all day, but we were dressed for it, as you can see here.

Not much view from the Point

Fortunately, it wasn't cold, but occasionally we'd have a gust of wind that reminded me that it sure wouldn't be much fun to stand around for long. We made it up these soggy logging roads in fairly good time. I did get everyone to let me take a picture before we headed back.

Frank, Chris, Mel, Kirk, Jim, Rich, Al, Mike, Richard

It wasn't the sort of day when I had much to take pictures of, with little to no view, and having to haul my camera out from under my rain pants wasn't easy. This hike, led by Mel, was a loop trail, with us going down from this point to the South Lost Lake trail for our return trip. I was glad we had a different view on our way back, hoping for something a little more scenic.

Beautiful tall trees

Sure enough, Frank pointed out a stand of beautiful straight trees all in a row, and the people in the picture show the relative size. It's my favorite picture of the day.

Waterfall

This one isn't bad, either. We see this waterfall every time we walk this road, but it changes dramatically, considering the amount of rain and the time of the year. Sometimes it's almost nonexistent, but today it was magnificent.

Discussion about whether to go to Fragrance Lake or head back

At this point, we could continue on to Fragrance Lake and then take the two-mile trail back to our starting point, adding perhaps another mile to the hike as well as some more time out in the elements. We decided to head back down the road and skip the lake, since the rain had not let up all day and nobody was really interested in having lunch on the trail today.

Six of us having lunch at the Senior Center

Six of the ten of us pulled out our lunches at the Senior Center and enjoyed a warm and leisurely lunch inside. The others took off for home, and we decided that it was indeed another wonderful day in the wilderness, having covered around eight miles and 1,600 feet up and down.

I got what I came for: good exercise in the outdoors and great company. I am glad I went, but I am even more glad to be dry and warm inside. Funny how being uncomfortable for awhile can make comfort so much more enjoyable. Hoping for better weather next week!
:-)