Madrone Crest

Today's Group 2 hikers (I took the picture)

It was simply a beautiful fall day as twelve hikers spent the morning and early afternoon hiking across amazing yellow leaves, as we went from the North Chuckanut trailhead to Madrone Crest, following an interesting route: up the Hemlock trail to the Huckleberry trail, then across to the Salal trail and hiking it to the turnoff to Madrone Crest. 

Golden leaves

Almost all the big leaf maple leaves have fallen, creating gorgeous carpets of bright yellow under our feet; there are a few trees that still retain their leaves, but they have all turned brilliant gold. We had a few moments of bright light coming through the trees, but mostly it was overcast, however mild and dry we might be.

Flower-like mushrooms were everywhere

As usual, we saw lots of interesting mushrooms, a sure sign of our newly wet environment. Rain was expected by the afternoon, and sure enough as I sit here I can see that it has arrived. But we were spared any at all, nary a drop fell on us.

Madrone Crest, our lunch spot

We stopped at the place where we would have had a view, if the trees had not grown up over the years to obscure any sign of the valley below us. A sign at the last junction before the Crest had indicated there would be a view, but some disgruntled hiker had scratched that out. I've seen the view in past years, but it is definitely completely hidden today.

A mushroom beginning to change shape

It was a really nice hike, I must say. We returned back a different route, taking the Madrone Crest trail to the Salal trail, then taking the Lower Salal from there. We also hiked on the Lost Lake trail, and back to the Hemlock where we started. It was somewhere around 8+ miles, and around 1,700 feet up and down. Very enjoyable, not too long, not too short. And no precipitation!

For those of you wondering what happened to me on Tuesday when I didn't write a post, I have no excuse, other than I simply... forgot. I got so involved watching the election returns and then finishing my wine before heading to bed that it slipped my mind. It wasn't until the middle of the night that I remembered. Now that I am officially old, I blame my diminished faculties for my omission. It might happen again, so be forewarned!

I'm just glad I can still hike long distances and feel good afterwards. Now that I've written this post, along with my Tuesday mea culpa, I can relax and enjoy the rest of the day, watching the rain and wind from inside a warm and cozy home.

:-)