Bright and beautiful Mt. Erie and Sugarloaf

Fairy slipper or calypso orchid

Fifteen Senior Trailblazers drove for some 40 miles to the Heart Lake trailhead near Anacortes, where we hiked up to both Sugarloaf and Mt. Erie on a beautiful sunny day. The forest is filled with green plants just bursting forth everywhere, and we spied these tiny little fairy slippers. I had to try to get a decent picture, and this is the best I got while hoping not to hold everybody up for too long while I tried to focus on it. They are not very big at all but so pretty.

Little Round Top summit

Our first summit was this spot, which is simply a wide-open space with a bit of a view but not much at all, called the Little Round Top. It was nice to stop for a minute before we headed off to the Sugarloaf summit, with great views. By the time we got there, we did stop for a quick snack before heading off to the summit of Mt. Erie.

Looking out at the view from Sugarloaf

Along the way, we saw some beautiful fawn lilies, identified for us by Peggy, who really knows her plants. I love this pretty white flower, and she told me that they also come in pink, but those are very rare. These white ones were seen a few times along the trail.

Fawn lilies

Peggy says they have their name because of the speckled leaves, similar to a baby fawn's markings. If you enlarge the picture you can see them; I already looked. From the summit of Sugarloaf, I also got my first view of the San Juan islands that we'll see up close from the summit of Mt. Erie. I couldn't resist this picture with my telephoto.

Looking out to the San Juan islands

And after some more hiking, right at noon we arrived at the summit of Mt. Erie, where we would stop and have a leisurely lunch in pretty darn perfect weather: no wind, warm sunshine, and magnificent views. Glacier Peak is one of those you cannot see from many places, but today we saw it in the distance from the top.

Glacier is the white one on the left

After taking some really nice pictures and settling down for a nice lunch, I promptly dropped my own lunch in the dirt, spilling the rice dish I looked forward to eating where only the wildlife would appreciate it. Fortunately, I was able to scrounge enough from my fellow hikers that I actually ended up eating more than usual.

Our lunch view

This was one of those times when we took our time at lunch, because it was such a spectacular view and nobody was in a hurry to head back down to the cars. There is actually a road to this place, with lots of viewpoints for people to enjoy, so there were other people there with us who drove their cars to the top. I noticed that some of my group had decided to make themselves very comfortable.

Jacqueline giving her toes a sun bath

Jacqueline reminded me of a time last summer when the two of us took off our shoes and basked in the sunshine. Today I didn't, because I was afraid I might not want to put my boots back on and head down the trail. Jacqueline also gave me a Kind Bar, and I was immediately smitten with these snacks. The link tells you all about them.

Thank you, Diane, for the great picture

I also asked Diane if she would take a couple of pictures of me in this marvelous spot before we headed back down, so I can remember the great day we had in the Anacortes Community Forest Lands today. We hiked somewhere right around eight miles and went up and down 2,400 feet of elevation gain and loss (which seemed endless while we were hiking it, but not so bad now). I am so glad to have this group to exercise with, and I hope I can continue for many years to come. But for now, I'm just grateful for this fabulous day in the sun with great friends.
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New photo app

Such a pretty cup of coffee

My local barista made this lovely cup of coffee for me to enjoy. It's almost too pretty to drink, don't you think? I had some difficulty exporting it onto my desktop in a small size to put into the post, because Apple has just done a major upgrade to its Yosemite operating system, including a complete overhaul of its photo program. No more iPhoto. I read everything I could find about the new system before downloading it, but I figured that I'd have to do it sooner or later, so I jumped right in.

Well, when I put a picture from my MacBook Air onto a blog post, I first export it into the lowest resolution possible, since I don't want my pictures to take forever to load in full size, which looks exactly the same on the screen anyway. And of course, with the new program, my old way of doing things just wasn't there. I did finally find out how to export my image in a smaller size, but just for grins, I went to Google to see if there were better ways to do it. I found that the Preview app is even a better way to resize photos. I found that information on this How-To Geek website.

Just because I had to step out of my comfort zone, I might have found a better way to get just the right size pictures for my posts. My camera and phone both take photos in a size way too large to post directly. This one went from 1.4MB to 66KB, which is just fine. Anyway, I'm happy with the new program, now that I'm able to do pretty much everything I need.
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Ah, the tulips

Early morning light through the tulips

You will have to indulge me, as I have had the hardest time deciding which of the hundreds of pictures I took at RoozenGaarde Tulip Gardens last Wednesday to share with you today. This is the latest I have ever been at the gardens, because the warm springtime temperatures and sunshine made everything two to three weeks ahead of the usual schedule. By the time this weekend is over, most of the color will be fading quickly.

Just amazing

We arrived early, since it was a beautiful day and we knew that hordes of people would be coming later. I arrived fifteen minutes before opening time at 9:00am, and there were already dozens of people queued up to be admitted. I was hoping for pictures with the early morning light coming through the tulips, and I have been very pleased with the result.

Hyacinths among the tulips

The display gardens are as beautiful as I've ever seen them, and I enjoyed walking through them for a couple of hours. My eyes were getting quite full, but my camera gives me the possibility of walking through them again as I share them with you.

Snapping pictures right and left

As you can see in the picture above, more and more people began to arrive to view the tulips as well. In the foreground, you can see that some early bloomers had already been "topped" and are gone. But there were still plenty of tulips to see.

A favorite shot before the crowds arrived

Within a short time, maybe an hour after arriving, I would have been unable to capture this picture because of the sheer numbers of people who were also enjoying the tulips. This path was actually crowded before we left. Although I had traveled to the Skagit Valley alone, I met some friends there, and I'll tell you about that adventure at another time.

Tulips for miles

We then traveled down to the tulip fields after seeing the display gardens, and that was also an amazing treat. As you can see here, on the left and right of these tulip rows are more colors, more to see than was possible to absorb. Since we had several days of warmth and sun before Wednesday, the fields were almost dry.

Now that's pink

And the colors! I loved seeing the incredible variety of tulips for us to enjoy. I thought this color was my favorite, until I saw this field.

Purple ones

Yes! My favorite color in a beautiful tulip, with full sun and the most perfect day for seeing these beauties. By this time, however, I was almost full up to the brim with eye candy, and I was getting hungry. We headed off to Nell Thorn Restaurant in La Conner for a sumptuous lunch with delightful company. Then it was time to head back to Bellingham, after a wonderful day.
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A hard hike on a gorgeous day

The dense forest in early morning light

Today twelve Senior Trailblazers met to go on the hike we call the "Olsen Creek Ogallala Loop." It starts at the same trailhead where we do several other hikes, but some of those are now inaccessible because of logging activity. I suspect this one might be in the same boat before too long. Anyway, I'll explain the name as I chronicle the day's events.

Olsen Creek May 2012 <-> April 2015

You can see that Olsen Creek is much lower today than it was in May 2012. I shudder to think what it will look like in May of this year. We are only 15% of normal snowpack in the mountains around here, and I've never seen the creeks so low and the spring season so early. We just had the warmest March ever in Washington State. The climate is changing in so many places: here, too.

Just before leaving the road for the Ogallala Loop

The mountains in the background are, I believe, in Canada. Although we started out quite cold, with the temperature in the low forties (around 5 C), with the full sunshine and open areas, we warmed up quickly. We were all fresh and raring to go at this point.

Ogallala sign: only 1,450 miles to go

We start out on a wide logging road and then leave it to head into the forest on a sketchy, not much used trail at this sign. Somebody decided that he (or she) needed to show people how far it is to Ogallala, Nebraska. They are probably from there and a little lonesome. Over the years that sign has begun to fade, but it still begins our forest trek. After wandering through some muddy spots and a lot of uphill through the dense forest, we came to a nice clearing.

Me, Bob, Al, Lisa

I asked for a picture of the group wearing Tilley hats, with our newest member Lisa, who bought Rich's unused Tilley (he already had one and received this one as a gift). Before long, it will become the dominant headwear, it seems. I love mine. After this picture was taken, we headed up a long series of switchbacks to the one of the summits on Stewart Mountain.

Heading up some more

Although it was very sunny, we were in the forest and trees through much of the first part of this hike. It was very green and beautiful, but for whatever reason it seemed much longer to me today than it has in the past. We were getting close to lunchtime and I was ready to stop. But we made it to the top, with somewhat of a view, at lunchtime. Here's my best shot of Mt. Baker.

Mt. Baker and clouds

After a leisurely lunch in the sunshine, we began the second part of the hike, a loop on logging roads and into forest onto a faint trail that had plenty of blown-down trees and obstacles to go over, under, around or through. Plus there was some new logging across our trails, so it added to the feeling of difficulty. As I grew more and more tired, I stumbled now and then and had to catch myself. Thank heavens for my trekking poles: they kept me from falling on the uneven trail more than I would have otherwise.

Our canopy of trees

At one point I just looked up at the trees above me, and I snapped this picture with my cell phone. Frankly, I am constantly amazed at the quality of the pictures I get with my iPhone 6. After what seemed to be a very long time, we finally emerged from the forest and onto the logging road in a loop that gave us a full ten miles or more, with just under 3,000 feet of elevation. Not an easy day, and we all agreed afterwards that we would rate today exertions as "hard."

Today's trillium

No, it wasn't an easy day, or even a moderate one, but now as I sit here writing this post, I am so glad for the wonderful company of my fellow Trailblazers, and the ability I still have to walk through less-then-optimal conditions for such a distance. Right now, I would rate my day as "awesome."
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The lilacs have begun to bloom

The first blooms

We have lots of lilac bushes around the apartment complex, and I've been watching the ones facing south to see when they might actually emerge, and today's the day! I went out to look, and this is what I saw a few minutes ago. Most are still closed, but a few early bloomers are already budding out. They don't last long, once they start, but these are early. Our spring has been a couple of weeks ahead of the usual schedule, with warmer than normal temperatures as well.

I wonder if ladybugs have noses

We have a few white lilacs, and I've noticed that they always bloom first, but until today I hadn't seen any open. I was pleased to see this garden friend (the ladybug) in the flower. My trip to the tulip fields tomorrow should give me lots of beautiful pictures to post. That link takes you to the bloom map, which says that on this past Monday they were in full bloom and that they should be good to view up through next weekend. Until then, I will leave you with these visual delights.
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Eclipse and more

This morning's Blood Moon Eclipse

I got up early this morning at 4:30am to photograph the total lunar eclipse. I'm pretty tired right now, after having spent the last eight hours in a class, the first of two days worth, on how to become a Death Doula. What is that, you ask? Well, I'm only halfway through, so all I can say is that the first day was totally worth it. A "doula" is often used to refer to a woman who helps other women through childbirth. A new movement is afoot to train people to preside over the other end of the life cycle, providing continuous physical, emotional and transformational support to the dying person before, during, and just after death.

Years ago (actually, more than thirty), I signed up in Boulder as a Hospice Volunteer. I went through two days of training then, too, but it was totally different. Or I should say I was different then, and there were many more people: more than fifty as opposed to eight today. Back then, I would spend time with the dying person while the primary caregiver took a much-needed break. The process of caring for the terminally ill has evolved since those days; I'll be writing more about it tomorrow morning on my other blog. For now, I'm just going to leave you with this wonderful picture from the tulip fields:

From the LoveBellingham Facebook page

Next Wednesday I will be in those fields, and I'm hoping to get some really wonderful pictures. But between now and then, I've got another day of learning ahead, and a rental car coming my way on Monday!
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Burnout Point and Fragrance Lake

The old logging road at the start of the hike

Fifteen Senior Trailblazers met this sunny morning to begin one of our usual wintertime hikes, which we call "Burnout Point from Clayton Beach." Every year we do this one, and somehow or other I always manage to forget about the first half of the hike, which is on old roads like this, and is very steep in several spots. Must be a bit like childbirth: the only reason we have siblings is that we forget how much it hurts. There were times today as I was groaning upwards, wondering how I had forgotten this little fact.

Looking out at Samish Bay

The beautiful sun we had at the beginning of the day began to deteriorate early on, as low clouds emerged to keep me from needing my sun hat, which I carried all day but never used. We always stop at this place, whether or not we have a view, and make some clothing adjustments. And then we trudge to the clearcut at the top. Today we were hoping for a view.

Nope, no view today

The fog and mist made for a rather nice view of the group, and you can see the clearcut hill behind them, with newly planted trees beginning to emerge on the bald spot. In a few years it will look much better. I hope I'll still be taking pictures so I can document the change from year to year.

Lost Lake

You can see Lost Lake from the top, too. We visit this lake at least once each winter. As you can see, we are far above it today; it doesn't look so lost in the mist. There was a bit of a breeze, making us feel rather chilly, so we didn't stick around too long. There wasn't much to see anyway. Off we went, making a loop back down a trail that took us to the south Lost Lake trail.

On our way to Fragrance Lake

We followed this trail until we reached the intersection with the Fragrance Lake trail, and we headed off to the lake for lunch. We were hoping for some sunshine as we made our way around the lake, and we did find some sun breaks among the clouds. When the sun was out, we were warm, and when it hid behind the clouds, it got quite cool.

Mr. and Mrs. Mallard

As soon as we settled down to have lunch, some obviously well-fed mallard ducks headed right over to us, hoping for a handout. We got to enjoy seeing them while we ate our lunch, and a few of us even lobbed them a couple pieces of bread. And then it was time to pack up and head back to the trailhead, down the Fragrance Lake trail.

Returning to the cars

This trail is very well used, as you can see here, but we pass through some old growth forest, and lots and lots of sword ferns. And once we got moving again, we were comfy and warm as we descended. I've been on this trail often enough that it has become familiar, and I know all the twists and turns by heart. Although we covered somewhere under ten miles (9.5), and gained and lost around 2,200 feet, I'm feeling pretty good today. On the last few hikes I've felt really spent at the end of the day while I write this post. This is a good sign, I'm thinking.

Big old tree

We always stop and look at this tree, which I now think of as Peggy's tree because she was the first one to point it out to me. It was obviously marked for logging sometime in the far past, and as you can see the mark has healed up. It's just a beautiful old tree, and I'm glad that for whatever reason we get to enjoy it today.

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