Wonderful hike, great weather too

Lots of bridges to cross

Today, Melanie and I made our way to the Upper Trailhead on Blanchard Mountain, to hike to both Lily and Lizard Lakes and return via the Alternate Incline Trail, making a sweet loop of almost seven miles and almost 1,500 feet elevation gain and loss. The best part is that I am doing just fine with that distance and elevation, and that is saying something. Last week I was grumpy and grumbled about a five-mile walk in the rain. This was the other side of that kind of day: pretty darn perfect.

Lily Lake

As you can see from this picture, there was little breeze, and although it was cold when we started out, within a short amount of time I was shedding my jacket. Almost all of the uphill is on the way to this lake, and although we didn't see any lilies (it's early for that), we stopped for a quick snack before heading over the Lizard Lake.

Lizard Lake

In all the times I've visited this lake, I've never seen a lizard lounging around, so I'm not sure where the name comes from. We did see some squirrels, but that was the extent of our wildlife sightings today. From Lily Lake, you climb a bit up and down before getting to Lizard Lake, and then if it weren't for the position of this picture in my photos, I wouldn't be able to tell the difference between them. Just lakes.

Reflections in Lizard Lake

Before we headed over to the Alternate Incline Trail to return to the parking lot, I saw this picture between the trees of the stumps and trees reflected in the lake, where the water was smooth as glass. If it weren't for the trees in the foreground, I think I could have inverted the picture.

Buds just emerging

I wanted to show you in this shot the state of our springtime foliage: just at the beginning of leaves showing up. Behind you see one very mossy tree in the middle of the frame, and a tree decorated with various fungi just behind the bush in the foreground. It was so wonderful to be outdoors in fine weather, feeling good, and enjoying the company of my favorite hiking companion.

Mt. Baker and a pesky branch

Why I didn't see that branch right in the middle of my picture of Mt. Baker I'll never know. It was there, but apparently I looked right through it as I took the shot. Oh, well; it's still a lovely picture. On the way back down the road, this view is the only one we get on this particular hike, and it sure was pretty. We were only a short distance from the parking lot at this point, and I was truly amazed at how good I was feeling. Perhaps now I'm finally getting over this malaise. Or not. It's possible it was a fluke, but I don't think so.

And now it's time for me to enjoy a nice little glass of wine and catch up with the news of the day. It sure was great to be away from it for a while. I hope your day is as fruitful as mine as been. And as an aside, I got the Wordle puzzle this morning in two tries!

:-)