Windy downtown hike

Intrepid hikers

Well, the Senior Trailblazers who met at the Senior Center this morning didn't know for sure just what we would be doing today, if anything. Plenty of rain and wind made our scheduled hike into the woods a nonstarter. In fact, the other group decided to cancel their hike; all of us were a bit nervous about the wind, since two weeks ago we were lucky to escape unscathed. But still, there were ten of us, and we decided to walk from the Center and get some exercise on the streets around town.

Whatcom Creek is roaring

We stopped on the bridge over Whatcom Creek for the first picture, and we took lots of photos and videos of the amazingly loud, roaring creek before heading off to the South Bay trail along Boulevard Park.

Boulevard Park with lots of water

I laughed when I saw this picture, because everything is so wet it looks like we're walking on water. Although it was raining pretty hard, the winds were only occasionally heavy and we were quite safe. The rest of the time it was just breezy.

January blossoms

Although it's early January, I have noticed these pink blossoms next to Woods Coffee on the boulevard are always in bloom, it seems. Whenever I pass by, no matter what time of the year it is, there they are.

A little wet but new raincoat works

Melanie took this picture of me in front of the blooms, and I was quite pleased to see how wet I am, but my raincoat did its job (yay!) and my rain pants also worked to keep me relatively dry. My biggest problem today was trying to keep my hat from blowing off, despite the chin strap.

Buffleheads

These pretty bufflehead ducks swam right underneath the bridge we were on, but they had moved away quite far before I struggled my phone out from under my rain pants. They made a pretty diamond shape, except for the lone duck who seems to have been banished from the group.

We walked up Taylor Street in order to add some elevation to our walk. We then returned to the Senior Center by walking through the Western Washington University campus. I neglected to get a picture because I was busy discussing books and movies.

Our cozy lunch spot

We ended our time together with a nice lunch inside the Senior Center. We managed to walk almost seven miles, by most devices, and 900 feet elevation, most of which was on the Taylor Street hill. Then it was time to pack up our stuff and head home, after a safe, if rainy and windy, hike. I'm glad I went and look forward to better weather next week.
:-)