Back to the Chuckanuts

Lower Salal trail

Today, Melanie and I set out from the Chuckanut trailhead to find our way up to the Lower Salal trail (one of my favorites) and join the Hemlock trail for our way back to the car. It was overcast but several degrees warmer than we've been experiencing lately, so it was almost up to our usual temperatures for this day in November. Still just a bit cool, but moderating a bit every day. Lots of leaves on the trails, making for a lovely carpet to hike on. Most of my pictures at this time of year are quite similar: lots of fall carpeting and quiet beauty.

Favorite rocket ship root system

I think I always take a picture of this strange root system on the tree, that looks to me like a rocket ship about to launch. It looks different every time I visit, but it never launches, much to my delight relief.

Leaf-strewn bridge

We were still on the Lower Salal trail when we crossed this bridge, and we walked a short distance on the Salal itself, before coming to the Hemlock trail. Although it's obviously November environs, it is still so very pretty to my eyes. In a half year, we'll be scanning the area for trillium.

Melanie suggested we take a side trip to see "the Dude," a tree with an interesting face, which Mel has said is reminiscent of "The Big Lebowski," played by Jeff Bridges in the 1998 film. We had to attach the doobie, because although sometimes there is one already there, today we had to find a stick just the right size to give him a toke.

Chuckanut Falls

And then we took the trail down to Chuckanut Falls, figuring there would be some water in it, after our recent rains. Sure enough, there was a steady stream coming down the falls, although nothing like we sometimes see after a major rainstorm. Still very pretty, though.

Old trees and golden leaves

I love the beautiful trees in this forest, this one showing off its lovely bark, with the golden leaves of the shrubbery behind brightening up the scene. We had no sun at all today, but the leaves brought the light to us.

More gold

We were almost back to the trailhead when I saw this one, and it called out to me to capture its beauty before the next windstorm brings all these pieces of gold onto the forest floor. We covered a bit more than six miles, with 1,500 feet of elevation gain and loss, making it quite a worthy outing. I am blessed by the magnificence of our forests, and by the friendship that I have with Mel. Just another great day in the Pacific Northwest with a really good friend.

:-)