Hertz Trail and Whatcom Park

Lake Whatcom from Hertz trail

 Today, my friend Melanie and I walked the entire 6+-mile trail (round trip) on the north shore of Lake Whatcom. It's a lovely place, and I've been on it in sunshine, rain, and snow, with comfortable to freezing temperatures. Since the weather would be cloudy all day, with a chance of rain, we decided against traveling out of town. It was a good choice: we kept up a brisk pace as we navigated the out-and-back trail, noticing that they have done a good deal of work on it lately, possibly getting ready for the winter weather to come.

Cute whale rock

When we got to the terminus, this little rock was there to greet us, left there by an anonymous artist. On the back, it said simply, "Whatcom Rock." No signature, but I was pleased to see it and placed it carefully back in its original position.

Remains of an old pier

There wasn't much new to see on this familiar walk, but I gazed at the stumps of a long-ago pier and thought of what this place looked like back then, when our wide and pretty trail had another use.

The Hertz Trail follows an old logging railroad bed along the fairly wild northern shore of massive Lake Whatcom, one of the largest natural lakes in the state. 

Yesterday, I went on another short walk in Whatcom Falls Park, not far away from today's walk. We (myself, along with my friend Lily) made our way down to the falls, to see what they look like at this time of the year. With the changing leaves and a respectable amount of water rushing by, it was a lovely scene.

Whatcom Falls from the bridge

I've shown this exact photo many different times in the past, but yesterday's view was especially memorable. The sound of the water and the mist in the air made us stop for several minutes just to take it all in.

Spider web art

Walking back to the car, I saw this spider web, sans spider, as we kept looking in the bushes for ripe blackberries. We did find some delicious ones (actually, Lily has an unerring eye for them) and since they were perfect, we stopped looking for more and just enjoyed the aftermath of the tasty fruit before heading home.

I was happy for the two outings, and again allowed myself to be very grateful for all the wonderful places I can choose to enjoy here in Bellingham. I hope you will also have a chance to get out and about!

:-)

Lovely day for a walk

On the Whatcom Falls bridge

Today several of us ladies (and one man) walked from Barkley Village to Whatcom Falls park and back, enjoying the cool mostly overcast skies, and perfect temperature. I was pleased that my knee cooperated, although it didn't let me forget to pay attention to it. Although I am a little sore from last Thursday's exploits, altogether I'm feeling pretty darn good today.

Typical late summer waterfall

Whatcom Falls roars mightily along in spring and summer, but today it's much reduced in volume since my last visit. It's still very beautiful to see, however. Everywhere around me I can see the first signs of fall emerging. This morning I removed a rather large spider from the rug, another sign of the changing season. It was probably a hobo spider, which are common in this part of the country. Plus I've removed several in previous years at this time of the year. This one was easy to catch under a glass, slipping a piece of paper under it and carrying it to the front porch. It scurried quickly away, hopefully not to make an immediate return inside.

A friend told me about a sale on weighted blankets at a local store, so I bought one and am happily ensconced under it as I write this. They are supposed to reduce stress and feel like a hug. I like it and will let you know if it lives up to the hype.
:-)

Fall is here already

Trees turning color

Yesterday when I saw these trees from the bus, I realized that they are already begin to turn color. These particular trees become scarlet and very beautiful in the fall, and this is the start of their change. Today I was ready with my cellphone to take this picture. The black dots are on the bus window, and there are a few reflections since I took it on the fly through the window. I was actually pretty amazed it turned as this well. The wonders of the iPhone 6 camera.

My tomatoes, red and juicy

Then I went out to the garden to check on the progress of my tomatoes. As you can see, they are ripe, or almost so. I picked one off the vine and ate it and decided to let the rest stay there for a little longer. Plenty of the tomatoes are just beginning to get color, but these, as you can see, are ready to eat. Will they get sweeter if I leave them on there, or should I bring them in for the final ripening? Any instruction will be appreciated for this novice tomato grower.

By the way, my sister identified that spider for me. It's an Eratigena atrica, or giant house spider. When I first looked it up, I was unsure if it was the same one, since they are mostly found in Central and Northern Europe. Hmmm. But upon reading more, I found this:

The giant house spider is indigenous to north western Europe. However, it was unwittingly introduced to the Pacific Northwest of North America circa 1900 due to human activity and strongly increased in numbers for the last century. Its original habitat consists mostly of caves, or dry forests where it is found under rocks, but is a common spider in people's homes.

They show pictures of the nest and web of this spider, so I'll be checking around to see if I can find where this one might have come from. They only bite when provoked, and you can be assured I'll try very hard not to do so.
:-)

Another sunny Saturday

Crazy Sally, me, Carol Bee

I had a really nice lunch with some old friends on Wednesday, and I snagged a passerby (you can see his reflection in the upper right) for a picture. Sally and Carol used to hike with the Senior Trailblazers, but Sally moved away to the East Coast and is here for a visit. Carol still walks by herself but not with groups any more. She looks pretty good for 78, don't you think? We discussed being "young old" and "old old" and she revealed to me that she's in the latter group. Both Sally and I are still "young old" at 71 and 72, but we're getting there. Somewhere I read that one is considered "young old" from 65-75; "old old" 75-85, and "very old" after that. Makes sense.

Unidentified spider

I found this guy in my bathtub yesterday morning. He's pretty large, around 2" across including legs, and I managed to get him outside into a plant. He stayed still while I took this picture with my phone. After checking on line to see what it might be, I couldn't figure it out, since most of the descriptions suggested checking the markings on the underside. No, thanks! Anybody have an idea?
:-)