Early spring at Fragrance Lake

Viewpoint looking out at Samish Bay

I never tire of looking at the views we have on a sunny (or mostly sunny) day at Fragrance Lake. That's where Melanie and I decided to go today, the last nice day before a series of rainy ones ahead. At least it held off for our hike.

Our trail, with ferns galore

We went our usual direction, up the trail on the way to the lake and down the logging road on our way back. There was a little breeze, and it never quite reached what I would call "warm," but it was quite tolerable and made for easy uphill hiking.

Narrow spot between two trees

I have taken pictures of this spot on the trail before, but I am always seeing it looking a bit different, depending on the time of year and the weather. It never looks the same to my eyes, sometimes dramatic and sometimes just another lovely spot in the wilderness. 

Fragrance Lake and reflections

Today you can see the light green in the trees on the far side of the lake. By the time we reach this spot, we have done most of the climb for the day. Not long after this spot, we started up the Two Dollar trail. Large boulders are on our left and a bubbling stream on our right.

Tree growing out of a boulder

I happened to look up on the left just as we passed this scene, one I have passed by many times, but I didn't look up far enough to see the spectacle of the tree that has become one with the rock below it. I wonder how long these two have been together; from the look of the tree, it's been quite awhile.

Looking down at the lake

We finally reached our lunch spot, where we rested before taking the return trip pretty much the same way back. By this time, the wind had increased and high clouds made it seem rather cold, so we didn't linger for long. And since we knew that we would be descending the entire way back, we put all our warm clothing back on, which had gradually come off as we worked our way upward.

The ever-changing waterfall

And, as usual, we stopped for a picture at the place on the logging road back down that has this magnificent waterfall, which changes with the amount of rain and the seasons, but never fails to look wonderful. We covered 6.72 miles on today's outing, and went up and down more than 1,600 feet. I think my old hiking days where I would climb and descend much more than this are behind me. But who knows? Melanie says I am in good enough shape to try Church Mountain this summer. We'll see when we get there. At any rate, I am happy to be feeling as good as I do, knees and joints relatively happy, and my mood has improved mightily by just being out in such good weather with such a good friend.

:-)