Summer season is officially under way

Mike, Rich, Chris, Al

Yes, I know it's raining in the picture, taken this morning on our hike to celebrate the Memorial Day holiday at the beginning of our summer season. We haven't had ANY rain in several weeks and it was just saving up for today, I'm sure! When I woke to rain and saw on the weather forecast that there was a chance it would stop by noon, I figured we would still have a good time with friends and a moderately dry potluck afterwards.

Trails behind Lake Padden

On this hike, we usually head to the trails behind Lake Padden to make about a six-mile-long trek and then have a potluck gathering around noon with all the Senior Trailblazers from both the fast and the slow group, as well as any other Trailblazers who didn't go out with us in the rain today. Al follows his trusty GPS to keep us honest. Here's a map showing all the trails around the lake area.

We started at the southeast point

Al had rented one of the picnic pavilions for us to use for the potluck afterwards, and although there were only a dozen of us out hiking in the rain, we hoped that our friends would join us afterwards. Sure enough, they did.

Standing on the "summit"

But first, back to the trail: when we got to this place on the hike, Al told us we were at the summit, having reached the highest point of today's elevation gain. I see from the map that it was at 940 feet (285 meters). Altogether we gained and lost around 1,200 feet in around six miles, so it was a good workout. And gradually the rain slowed down, and finally stopped. We even had some sunshine! Good thing, too: when we finished our hike we saw that others were already beginning to arrive at the pavilion laden with food.

Just a small portion of the incredible spread

Almost everybody from all our Trailblazer friends and family were there by the time we sat down to eat. And although the rain had stopped, the sunshine was intermittent and a cold breeze began. Brrr! It was only around 59 deg F (15C) so we were not exactly dry and toasty. But it didn't matter, we had a great time.

A great feast

The food was so good that I found it difficult to stop tasting a little of this or a little of that. We had at least half a dozen different potato salads, fruit and vegetable salads galore, hot chicken wings and pizza, not to mention desserts that I found it hard to stop eating. Doug brought a homemade rhubarb pie that was still warm from the oven! He was the last to arrive and as full as I was, I still had to make room to taste a little bit of his heavenly pie.

So now I'm home, warm and full, and happy to have had such a great beginning to our 2016 summer season!
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Out and about in Bellingham

Cloud and buildings

I was walking to the gym from the coffee shop and saw this pretty juxtaposition of angles and clouds, not to mention ivy climbing across the building. There was a gull squawking away which caused me to look up. He didn't cooperate but would have been a good addition to the picture.

Wild iris

And on my Saturday walk with the ladies, we passed by Scudder Pond and I saw this lovely wild iris. I think they are called "flags" when they're wild, aren't they? The weather has been just lovely; while it's been pouring south of us in Seattle, we have missed the rain completely. I think it's holding off for Thursday, our hiking day, when we're also having a picnic. Oh, well; it won't be the first wet hike we've had.
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Bellingham family and friends

Gene with his tablet and me

Yesterday, I asked a fellow coffee shop person to take this picture of me with Gene, but he really didn't want to cooperate. This is the best of three shots. Usually Gene doesn't use his tablet in the coffee shop and gives the rest of us grief for sitting and staring at the screen, just like he's doing here, instead of visiting with each other. My iPad is taking this picture, or you'd see me doing much the same as him.

Robert and Leo

Before I walked out the door on my way to the gym, I saw Leo having breakfast with his dad, Robert. Leo obliged by letting me take this picture without making a face. And then this morning, I saw Leo with his mom, Nana, at the Farmers' Market and got this one to go along with the previous picture.

Leo and Nana

Again, I had to ask nice to keep Leo from geeking the camera. I was surprised when Nana picked him up (he's almost too big) for the picture. It was a wonderful day out there this morning, and when I went to the market after the walk with the ladies, I kept running into people I know. It makes me realize how much Bellingham has become my home, my family. There was even one woman from the yoga class with her entire family. I would never have recognized her dressed in street clothes, but she recognized me.

In Whatcom Falls Park

The day started out sunny and bright, but before long clouds built up and a strong wind lowered the temperature. Usually at this time of year we are in the low sixties (15-16C) but yesterday it was much warmer (28C) than normal. I am quite ready for a return to normal Pacific Northwest temperatures. Everything is two to three weeks ahead of schedule. Even a few strawberries in my garden are beginning to ripen!

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The knee is working again

Me in the Church Mountain meadows, Mt. Baker behind

Yes! Today eighteen (!) Senior Trailblazers set out for Church Mountain up the Mt. Baker Highway. Five of the group decided to try for the summit, while the rest of us would be content to make it to the meadows, which (as you can see) are still under lots of snow. Later in the year the meadows open up to fabulous wildflowers, and I will hopefully at that time be able to climb to the summit.

Sun coming through the maple leaves

This hike starts at a fairly high elevation, 2,400 feet, and meanders up 17 switchbacks to the meadows, covering somewhere near 2,500 feet of elevation gain in around three miles. It was a sunny day, with a few clouds but plenty of sunshine to make us happy to have the tree cover for those three miles before we broke out into full sun at the meadows.

Stopping to add gaters and Yak-Traks before the snow

I was not at all sure how my knee would behave on this rather strenuous hike, but it was without any problem at all going upwards. It was the downhill that I worried about, but I wasn't going to let that get in the way of the wonderful views and fun in the sun! We stopped just before we hit the snow to don paraphernalia to help us navigate the snow, such as gaters (to keep the slushy snow from going into our boots) and Yak-Traks to give us some traction.

Lots of snow ahead

This picture looks 180 degrees from the previous one, showing what we had ahead of us. The summiteers were already ahead, and if you look carefully you can see their tracks in the snow. We were headed to a viewpoint on a ridge a little to the left of this picture. First, we had to cross the stream, which is still mostly surrounded with snowpack, as you can see here.

Still lots of snow as we headed to that ridge

We did have to cross a snowbridge to cross this stream, but it is still safe, but in a week or so it won't be. We made our way across to that ridge with the trees, where we stopped to have our lunch. Once we got there, we had the option to sit in shade or sun, or even make our way down a short slope to ground.

Carol and Melanie, with a great view behind them

This was the first hike where I got to meet Melanie, a new Trailblazer who joined the group right after I got injured. We rode in the same car at my request, so I could chat with her a bit. She's just moved to the area and will be a great asset to our group, I am sure.

Bill and Bob opted to have lunch on snow-free ground

Dr. Bill sometimes hikes with the other group, and Bob travels often, so I was really happy to be on a hike that included them both. I asked for a picture and they accommodated me. At this point, it was just about time for us to gather our gear and head back down to the cars.

Heading back across the snow to the switchbacks and cars

We never saw the summit group, except once while we were having lunch we thought maybe we spied them as they made their way upwards. The rest of us headed back to the cars, and after we had gone a short distance on the downhill, I realized that my knee needed some help. I took a couple of Vitamin I pills (that would be ibuprofen) and asked Mike if he would carry my pack, saving my knee from further trauma. He agreed readily, and I have to say that right now, after returning home and quaffing most of my wine, I am feeling as good as I ever do after a hike of this magnitude. Thank you from the bottom of my heart, Mike, for being my porter for those three miles!

And now I think I can say that my knee really is working again, if not completely healed, at least mostly recovered from the meniscus tear. And what a day! I would not have wanted to miss this wonderful hike with some of my BFFs.
:-)

Spring is sliding into summer

My garden plot plus a new friend

My neighbor Lynn bought me this cool purple flamingo for Mother's Day, and I have to say I just love it! And as you can see, my garden is coming along quite nicely, too. I have been sneaking out in the early morning and tossing slugs off my pretty plants. Still can't bring myself to smash them, but I'm getting there. A few are going into the beer trap and dying what I hope is an easy, at least boozy, death.

Beatrix Potter

This morning I laughed out loud to see Jo's version of Beatrix Potter on her blog, A Brit in Tennessee. The gloves are a really nice touch. And finally, there are roses in bloom outside my front door, and they are so gorgeous and fragrant that I thought I'd share them with you. They were planted by a long-ago resident.

Roses

Can you smell them from over there? Enjoy!
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Learning all about gastropods

I think this is an Arion rufus

When I was last at the library, I looked up a couple of books about slugs and snails, also known as gastropods, a family of mollusks that end up in my garden, eating everything in sight. I bought two large bags of those hazelnut shells in the background, because I was told that slugs didn't like their sharp points and would avoid the tasty garden plants. Yeah, right. As you can see from the state of my collard leaves, they did little to nothing to discourage this guy.

I did buy a bait trap for slugs and snails from Amazon, which should arrive today, designed as a rather humane way to kill slugs and snails. It has three wells in which the gardener is supposed to pour some beer in order to drown the slugs. They are attracted to the smell, and the book I am reading from the library has some interesting tips about beer and gastropods: apparently they much prefer Budweiser to other beers. It's been awhile since I bought that beer, but I'll give it a try.

The book is called The Secret Lives of Slugs and Snails: Life in the Very Slow Lane. The author suggested that I go out into my garden early in the morning to see if I could find any of my unwanted pests, which I did, and the guy in the picture is, I believe, an Arion rufus variety. Yes, there he was, hanging out happily in my tattered plant, so I tapped him on the back and watched him curl into a ball. Then I picked him up and threw him over the fence. After having learned about these gastropods from the book, I just couldn't bring myself to kill him. At least he'll need to navigate over the hazelnut shells again. By then, hopefully, my plant will have recovered enough to survive.
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A different hike for me today

Me, Jacqueline, Cindy

Instead of joining the Senior Trailblazers for their Thursday hike, we three decided to walk the North Shore trail at Lake Whatcom. It's mostly flat and only a little more than three miles one way. Today the Trailblazers went up the Mt. Baker Highway to try one of our longer and steeper summer hikes. I figured I wasn't quite ready for that, although it's possible I would have had no problem. Next week will be soon enough, unless they decide to do something next week that I am dubious about attempting.

Flowers along the trail

I forget the name of these flowers, which Cindy knows and told me, along with some well-chewed stinging nettle plants on the right. The slugs must really like them. Today we saw at least a half dozen banana slugs, which Cindy carefully picked up out of the trail and put to the side. (Peggy does the same thing; banana slugs are native to the area and struggle to survive against the black slug invaders.)

A small pond in sun and shadow

When we started out, it was overcast and quite chilly. As we meandered along the trail, however, enjoying the plants and birdsong, we warmed up. The sun eventually began to make an appearance and before long we had more sun than clouds. I suspect the Trailblazers experienced more sunshine than we did at lower elevations, but in any event the day turned out just right for us.

Afterwards, we drove down to the local cafeteria seating area at Haggen's to have our lunch inside, and then we went our own ways after a really wonderful walk. When I got home, I had a quick video chat with my sister Norma Jean while she was visiting another sister, Markee, who is temporarily staying in Tampa. Norma Jean is back home in Florida after a month in California, so hopefully things will begin to get back to normal before long.

Strawberries in my garden

Before I forget, I took this picture yesterday of the progress of strawberries in my little plot. These were the first to come out and are not far from being ready to turn red. I am so surprised at the progress of my garden, since everything is almost a month early. Guess it's time to get my tomatoes in!
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