Fragrance Lake once again

Olympic Mountains from the Viewpoint

It never fails to amaze me at how much difference there is in the same hike a few weeks or months apart. I last visited Fragrance Lake with Melanie at the end of March, and now as the warmth heats up across the Pacific Northwest, and the greenery and abundance captures the eye and heart, I am so grateful to have visited one of our favorite places once again.

Maidenhair ferns abound

As usual, we went up the trail to the lake and came back via the logging road. We were greeted with pretty much perfect conditions as we ascended the almost two-thousand foot climb to the lake. When we started, we saw no trillium.

A group of trillium

But the higher we climbed, the more trillium we saw. This was the largest group of the day, and some of them are already beginning to turn a little pink. The older these blooms get, the more lavender to purple they become before they dry completely up for another year.

Fragrance Lake today, with reflections

We made it to the lake and started our usual circumnavigation of the lake, before starting our trek partway up the Two Dollar trail, to our lunch spot. It wasn't completely still, but almost, as you can see from the very light breeze on the water.

Trillium basking in the sunshine

We found a nice place to sit down and have a snack, this time some different cookies that Melanie had created: maple bourbon bite-sized treats. We didn't stay long, but we took a half-hour to enjoy our surroundings before heading back down.

Magnificent tree

I looked up at the top of this tree and almost lost my balance as it just kept going up and up, so I thought I should share this delightful tree with you, my readers. Isn't it gorgeous?

Do you see the fisherman?

As we retraced our steps to return to the parking lot, we passed once again by the lake, and I saw that there was someone on this log with a fishing pole and hoping for a catch. It was simply a perfect day spent in the wilderness with a dear friend, and we covered 6.53 miles and climbed and descended around 1,800 feet of elevation. A beautiful day indeed! I can never visit this spot too often, so you'll probably see it a few more times this season.

:-)