Lily and Lizard, and North Butte

Hat Creek, with hat

Today, a mere five Relaxed Senior Trailblazers went to the Upper Trailhead on Blanchard Mountain to make a loop including Lily Lake, Lizard Lake, and the North Butte viewpoint. I was so pleased to be part of the group, and we hiked upward at a pretty good pace. My pictures were rather sparse, since it was cold and I didn't much want to take my hands out of my warm gloves. However, we saw this sign, with a hat that stated we were looking at "Hat Creek," which is probably not on any maps, but it was worthy of a picture.

Lizard Lake

We hiked upwards until we got to the turnoff to Lizard Lake, where I captured this amazing picture of a still lake, reflections as clear as those on the actual shoreline. There is a small thin layer of ice on parts of the lake. From here, we took the turnoff to North Butte, were we would have lunch, and visit the iron bench once more.

View of the Bay from North Butte

Although the day was cold, it was mostly clear and when we were exercising, we were pretty warm. But it didn't take long when we stopped to get cold again. John had brought cinnamon rolls and hot coffee in his backpack, so we happily enjoyed the treat after we finished lunch.

The Five

It was such a pretty day that we weren't in any real hurry to leave, but our hands and feet got the best of us, so we decided to pack up, but not before Helen captured this picture of some of us with Gertie, her little gnome (tucked inside my jacket). I didn't realize that John had crept into the picture until I saw this.

Linda and me in front with Gertie, John lurking

See Gertie there inside my jacket? She is wishing me a happy upcoming birthday, it turns out. Other than the cold, the weather couldn't have been better: very light wind if any, and easy to follow trails. We couldn't have had a better day. I've been here in all kinds of weather, but this was one of the best weather days ever.

Mt Baker from North Butte

Since you need to get quite close to the edge to capture this shot, a sheer drop-off, Linda took this picture for me to share with you. I've seen Baker from many angles, and now I can add this one to my repertoire. It's so pretty!

Lily Lake

As we started over to Max's Shortcut, we passed close to Lily Lake, so I snapped this shot. There is a thin layer of ice on this lake, too, and when we got to the Shortcut, I didn't take any more pictures but just put my head down and followed the others back to the car. We covered somewhere around 8.5 miles and 2,000 feet up and down. A worthwhile day with great weather and even better friends. I'm tired but quite happy with our adventure.

:-)