Christmas Eve slog

Dark clouds look threatening

We started out at the Racine trailhead, thinking we would cross the Samish Bay Open Space and head towards Lake Padden and return. It was cloudy, but the seven of us started in dry conditions, and Barb (our leader and one who knows this area very well) commented that she had never seen the trail as muddy and wet as it was today. At least it's warm, and we could turn around if the weather deteriorated.

Before we had gone more than a couple miles, however, it began to sprinkle. We put on our rain gear, and before we went much further, it was becoming a definite downpour. We slogged on for another bit before deciding it was becoming much less fun than it had been just a short while ago.

Barb took us back via the trail she calls the "Hobbit Trail" because of all the twists and turns and giving us the feeling we might run into a hobbit around the next turn. She found this lovely little area before long.

A sign showing us Fairyopolis

A sweet little break in the trees led us to Fairyopolis, and inside there were lots of cute little gnomes and ornaments gracing the trees all around us. I did get a bit of a flavor of the area in the next picture. You do have to look carefully at all the little creatures tucked here and there.

A Christmas tree, fairies, and fun

While we were in the little haven, we were also spared from the direct rain, which was still continuing. Reluctantly we left, and at this point we decided to go ahead and return via a loop trail, and forget about getting to the lake. By this time, I was really drenched, even with good rain gear and (supposedly) waterproof shoes. Nope, I was feeling the water sloshing around inside my shoes, and the trail had become a river.

I didn't take many pictures, for obvious reasons, but Barb used her "Relive" app to take some good shots. I snagged this from the batch she sent around to us. She is behind the camera, but you might be able to tell how wet all the rest of us were. Or maybe not.

Are we having fun yet?

We kept up a good pace as we headed back to the cars, but the really interesting part of the adventure was that it stopped raining (leaving plenty of rain behind) and then we saw bits of blue sky that became full sunlight! By the time we returned to the trailhead, it was a different universe. We had covered around four miles by the time we finished, and started on our journeys back to civilization and warm, dry homes.

It was an adventure, and a lot more interesting to write about from my perch at home. At least I kept upright, once again, and in retrospect, I almost had fun! I am not in any hurry to go back there when it's raining like it was, though. But I'll be back, for sure!

 Merry Christmas!

:-)