Last hike of the year

Viewpoint today

Melanie and I decided last week that if the weather might be passably good today, we would hike up to Fragrance Lake, one of our favorites. As you can see, the view was pretty monochromatic, with little difference between the sky and the water. Plus, it was not really all that cold, with only a few "sprinkles" expected early. It did not disappoint, and we ended up having a pretty wonderful day.

Our trail, with a special old tree

I've taken pictures of this particular tree before, but it always catches my eye as we ascend the Fragrance Lake trail on our way to the lake. We usually take the trail to the lake, go once around (and sometimes go a little farther down the Two Dollar trail) and then head back taking the logging road rather than retracing our steps.

Still lots of green to soothe the eye

This being the Pacific Northwest, anything fallen and beginning its journey back into the ground is covered with moss. Even live trees often are a little mossy, but it doesn't seem to keep them from flourishing.

Fragrance Lake 

There was little wind to make it feel colder than it was (right around 5°C (42°F), so we were even able to take off a layer for a short while. We never were in any danger of seeing the sun, and after we went around the lake, seeing pretty winter scenes such as the one below, we began to feel a bit chilly.

Woodland scene

It was the little leaf, glistening in the wet, with a tiny mushroom above it, that caught my eye. And before long, the sprinkles increased by just a little bit, enough for the light wind to make us ready to put our layer back on.

Just a little rain at first

If you look carefully, you can see a few drops are falling on the lake. We decided to skip our usual trip down the Two Dollar trail, but we went far enough to visit one of our favorite spots at the beginning of the trail.

Mel's shot of me

Although my eyes are closed, you really do need something in the picture to show the size of these logs and rocks, so I thought what the heck. At least you can see that we were having fun, right? When we were here last, we ran into two women and we chatted with them for awhile. But, try as we might, we couldn't recall their names. 

Waterfall

And then, as we walked back down the logging road, we saw that the waterfall is once again full and looking beautiful. Last time we were here, it was almost completely dry, with only a little trickle keeping it from being totally absent. This is just about the perfect amount of water to enjoy its beauty.

By the time we got back to the car, we had traveled 6.5 miles and traversed 1,500 feet of elevation gain and loss. We also had a little more rain, which I'd call "moderate sprinkles" until we began our drive home, when  it picked up yet a little more. All in all, I would consider it a magnificent final hike for the year. Special thanks to Melanie for gifting me with her brilliant buckwheat cardamom chocolate chip cookies! It was all very lovely and delightful.

:-)