The 2018 season begins

The Half-Fast hiking group today

It's time to celebrate! I know that my Thursday hiking group goes out all year long, but it won't be long now before we are able to head up to the High Country and leave the nearby haunts alone for the time being. Every Memorial Day weekend, we have a gathering of the two groups (the Half-Fast and the Relaxed hikers) and two hikes, a longer one and a shorter one, on the horse trails behind Lake Padden, before a potluck lunch.

Lake Padden, showing all the trails

The horse trails are the red ones in the lower right. When I go to Lake Padden with the walkers on Saturday, we go twice around the lake for 5.2 miles. Today we covered around seven-ish miles on the horse trails. We also added a short trip up what is called the Padden Gorge, a short and very beautiful section that added maybe a mile total to today's hike.

Beautiful green feast for the eyes

I never tire of looking at the gorgeous place where I live, and when it's mostly overcast and cool (along with dry), the hikes cannot be beat. We maybe climbed up and down under 1,000 feet today, but mostly it was nice and flat, like this. At a place along the Padden Gorge, someone has been cultivating a lovely place of remembrance.

I wonder who did this, and for whom

There are pretty heart-shaped rocks, little painted rocks, some animal statues, and even some flowering plants. It looks well tended, and I'm grateful that vandals don't seem inclined to bother this spot. And then we headed back to our cars to get our goodies and move to the covered pavilion where we would join the other group.

An incredible number of salads

More people came who didn't actually hike with either group, and also brought more food, so we had an enormous amount to share. I was pleasantly surprised to see that if there was any meat, it was minuscule, and the salads were varied and delicious. And the desserts!! Oh my!

More came after this picture was taken

In the foreground is Doug's homemade rhubarb pie, still warm from the oven. Two blueberry pies also showed up, and several more chocolate treats. I must admit that I ate too much, once again. But it was divine, and I'd filled up with salads beforehand.

The covered pavilion

By the time we all sat down to eat, every single bench was filled, and we enjoyed spending time with our dear friends as we ate. Everyone was to bring their own plate and silverware, and those who forgot were able to find someone who brought more than they needed. It was truly a wonderful way to begin the season. I feel incredibly blessed by my hiking community.
:-)