Becoming a favorite hike

Long shadows early in the day

Today Melanie and I decided to go once again to one of our favorite places, Fragrance Lake. It was supposed to be raining in the morning and cloudy in the afternoon, but that's not what happened. As we drove to the trailhead, more and more sunshine emerged from the quickly dissipating clouds. By the time we got to the trailhead, it was incredibly mild and sunny. We almost don't know how to act when the weather is friendly rather than something we have to be ready for, just in case.

Viewpoint looking out at Samish Bay

By the time we got to the viewpoint, it was really lovely, but the clouds, as you can see, are not completely gone. All the rain we've had lately meant that sunshine would cause the humid air to form more clouds. But we really didn't care, it was just a fine day and all our anxieties lessened as we soaked in the forest setting, far from the news of the world. Everything was quiet and serene.

Quiet green solitude

We did see some people on the trail, mostly runners or dog owners, but mainly it was just us as we made our way up the two miles and 1,000 feet to Fragrance Lake. We didn't see many signs of spring, but they will be coming soon. On days like today, being in the forest around here is delightful.

Fragrance Lake today

The water was almost still, with little breeze to disturb the reflection of the trees. We walked past the lake and took the path counterclockwise around the lake to meet up with the trail that takes us to the Two Dollar trail. We walked a short distance (about a mile) to our lunch spot. We found a nice protected place overlooking the lake below us and settled in for a quick bite or two. Mel had brought her latest version of vegan cookies, and I didn't exactly inhale them, but it was close. Yum!

Me and Mel at our lunch spot

We walked back to the trailhead via the service road, rather than the trail to the lake, so we could have a loop hike rather than an out-and-back. As we started down, we noticed that the clouds had pretty much taken over the sky again, and it even began to rain a little. Nothing that a couple intrepid hikers couldn't handle.

Washed out part of the road

We came to the place on the road that has been damaged by the rain and wind we've experienced lately. It's actually closed, with a notice to take a side tour on one of the bike trails. We decided to check it out, and as you can see, if you stayed close to the left-hand side it wasn't too awfully difficult to navigate.

Waterfall

We finished the day's adventure by stopping by the waterfall to check out today's look; it was pretty full but not overflowing, as it sometimes is. This is not far from the trail's end, we had maybe another mile to walk. It was so beautiful and in such good company, we found when we finished that we had walked around 6.2 miles in total and went up and down around 1,400 feet. To say it was an amazing day was an understatement. I didn't fall even once, feel pretty darn good after all that exercise, and think I'll try for 7 or 8 miles next! 

:-)