Thursday, December 2, 2021

Two-fer walk today

Service road and lots of ferns

Another day with just two of us, and we decided to go for an old favorite, Fragrance Lake. When we arrived at the trailhead, we saw signs that the service road going to the lake is blocked off at about the two-mile mark. We could have gone up the trail, which we usually do, but we wanted to see the damage done to the road, so we went up that way.

Although I didn't get any pictures of the washout, we did find a couple of hikers who took some pictures, and so we headed back down after taking a look at them. There is a small area that people have been using to get around the closure, but we weren't interested in trying it. We had a few options: go back to the parking lot and take the trail (which would have made this a much longer hike than usual), or just call it a day and maybe head down to Squalicum Harbor and walk there for a bit, to make our hike into maybe five miles altogether (that might be stretching it). In the meantime, we were treated to the usually small waterfall, which has turned into a torrent.

Quite the display

It is the result of our record-setting rainfall for the month of November: 14.57 inches in Bellingham! And everywhere there are washed-out roads and areas in our town, with (I hate to say it) more rain still to come. Fortunately we had a brief time this morning to enjoy ourselves without any rain.

We walked another half-mile or so past the falls before turning around and heading back to the parking lot.

The falls from another angle

You can see in this picture how much misty spray is coming down, along with all that water. It goes underneath the road here, and we could see signs that during the worst of it, the water went over the road. But not today, thank goodness.

Dappled sunlight for a brief moment

As we moseyed back down, it was so nice to see a few bits of sunlight, after so much rain. We decided, once we got back to the car, to drive over to the harbor and walk until we got our regulation number of steps in. 

Squalicum Harbor

We didn't go far, since my tummy told me we were close to noon and I wanted to have some lunch. I hadn't brought anything but a few nutrition bars, so I convinced Mel that we should just head to our respective home and have lunch there. She agreed.

Rose hips

Although the flowers are pretty much gone now, there are abundant rose hips available for anybody who might want to make some tea. You can also see that there were no longer any peeks of sunshine, just more clouds. But the harbor was a gentle place for us to get more steps without wearing ourselves out. It was an easy day, but one I enjoyed very much. I hope the other Trailblazers, who were attempting a ten-miler, had as good a day as we had.

:-)

18 comments:

  1. I can't imagine 15 inches of rain in one month, but I suppose people in your neck of the woods are accustomed to such things. Loved those pics of that waterfall! I'd like to see that up close. Glad the weather didn't get in the way of today's hike, DJan. 🙂👍👣

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  2. 10 miles with an over-abundance of rainfall? They may have had a difficult hike. I think you two were wise. When I first opened your blog and saw the first photo I said "look at all those ferns"!! Wow.

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  3. I think they've been getting the same rain, or more, over in Abbotsford. Nice waterfalls!

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  4. If it's rainy it's probably not a great idea togo for a long hike. 15 inches of rain? Our average precipitation here is 12 in.

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  5. Those falls are amazing. I think that qualifies as a torrent of water. Your area has been in the national news lately with the pounding you have taken. Hope it is over for now.

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  6. Fifteen inches of rain is scary to think about.
    Beautiful waterfall on your hike !
    ~Jo

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  7. Wonderful waterfall! I've been in the city too much: yep, rose hips really grow on a plant, not in a tin can of tea. Linda in Kansas

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  8. That amount of rain boggles my mind - I am very, very glad that you had a dry walk - and happy birthday dear friend.

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  9. Everything looks so lush among those ferns. The west coast has sure had an abundance of rain. I am happy to see your area has had little ill effect compared to the Fraser Valley to the north.

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  10. I love that photo of the boats in the harbor. It looks like an oil painting.

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  11. That is so much rain. Such a pretty waterfall. Your hike sounds much better than the ten miler! :)

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  12. I'm glad for you that you found a break in the rain.

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  13. An easy day for you is still quite a walk. I did my walking in the house, cookie baking and tree decorating.

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  14. Those falls look kind of angry. Be careful, my friend.

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  15. Love all the ferns! Waterfall pretty impressive too. Not much walking done here (maybe one around the neighborhood, but that's it). Have almost finished decorating the 2 trees, sent out Christmas cards, and starting baking today!

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  16. You always manage to get a wonderful day out.

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  17. These are such lovely photo, DJan. I'm so glad you got to have a nice hike.

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