Spooky Halloween faces

My new hairdo

I've been having fun with the Messenger app from Facebook, giving myself a couple of new looks. It's interesting how well these apps work to make whoever is playing with them look so, well, different from their usual appearance. Some of them are so complete, they don't even look anything remotely like the person. In the above picture, at least you can tell it's me; maybe it's the forked tongue that gives it away.

Yeah, it's me

But this one? if I didn't know it was me, I wouldn't know it was me. I think it's supposed to be the Bride of Frankenstein, but with all that makeup and those beauty spots, I'm completely unlike myself. The hair is a step up from the Medusa snakes, though, don't you think?

Happy Halloween!!
:-)

Glorious day for a walk

Lake Padden today

We ladies made our way twice around Lake Padden this morning. The sun was just coming up when we started our walk, and then the sun lighted up the lake, which had steam coming off it because of the temperature change overnight. It was at least twenty degrees cooler this morning than yesterday. However, the morning could not have been more pleasant for a nice brisk walk.

Now, a little after noon, the clouds have begun to thicken overhead, and the temperature is definitely on the cool side, but it doesn't matter. I am enjoying the experience of fall colors everywhere, smiles on the faces of passersby, and generally feeling the love. And of course my family and friends! Feeling very blessed.
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We had fun playing in the rain

Today's group (plus me)

We are standing at the trailhead for North Chuckanut Mountain, here in Bellingham. We were scheduled for our last High Country hike of the season, but the weather has taken a turn towards rain and clouds, so instead Melanie suggested one of her favorites, a hike to Raptor Ridge from this starting point.

On the trail to Raptor Ridge

When we started our hike, it wasn't raining, but we were getting a few sprinkles now and then. When you're expecting rain, sprinkles don't really qualify. It did make for a few extra gear stops, however, trying to get it just right. Eventually we had some light rain, but it didn't deter us. Once we approached Raptor Ridge, however, the wind was howling, so we didn't stay long.

Tom braving the wind on Raptor Ridge

We even had the tiniest bit of of a view from the top, if you use your imagination, anyway. This was four miles from our starting point, but we still needed to find a nice place out of the wind and rain for lunch, so we kept going for awhile.

Local color

When I saw Joy in front of me with this dramatic rock behind her, I asked her to stop so I could get a picture. She took her hat off so I could capture all her great colors. Very pleased with the way it turned out.

Two happy mushrooms

Somebody decided to show that even mushrooms can have personalities, and that they can make strangers smile at their discovery. All of us with cameras stopped to save them for posterity.

Big leaf maple leaves

We kept swishing our way through big leaf maple leaves along the trail. I recently learned that something is causing these trees, which have the largest leaves of the species, to begin a die-off. You can read about speculation of what is causing it here. (Hint: nobody knows.)

Me, Tom, Heather

I asked Melanie if she would take a picture of me, so that I could also be present in the post, and she accommodated me with this one. We had a really good day, covering almost eight miles total and an unknown elevation gain and loss. It wasn't flat, by any means, but it was also not too difficult, and the rain was minimal. All in all, it was fun, and we ended up finishing early in the afternoon, so we still have lots of day left. It was a great way to spend most of my Thursday.
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Showing their rear ends

Um, guys, up is this way

While we were walking back to the parking lot after our walk on Saturday, several of us noticed some geese popping up and down in the water. It's pretty shallow here (as you can see from the old dock pilings), and I think these two guys are looking to find their breakfast. I watched for a few minutes, hoping to get all four of them upended at once, but it didn't happen. I had to be fast to get these two showing their butts as it was.

I just drove home after my yoga class and noticed a distinct change in the weather. Our sunshine is gone, a cold wind is blowing, and the sky looks like rain is imminent. Brrr! I still have an acupuncture treatment today, but after that I'll head home and hunker down. Our Indian Summer was wonderful while it lasted. The trees all over town are in riotous color, which I have had every intention of trying to capture, but it looks like if I don't do it soon, my chance will be over for the year.

On the bright side, I remembered my Tuesday post once again!
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Last week's hike adventure

The PTP hikers on High Divide (Chris photo)

Since I wasn't able to hike with the group last week, I asked someone from the Excelsior/Welcome point-to-point (PTP) hikers (Chris) and someone from the Welcome Pass only hikers (Cathy) to send me some pictures of their adventure and a little information about how it went. It turns out that nine Trailblazers did the entire PTP, which turned out to be almost 13 miles since the Welcome Pass road is impassable and they had to hike back to the highway. Three Trailblazers did the Welcome only segment.

Some of the PTPers (Chris photo)

After hearing how challenging it was, even for these strong hikers, I was glad I wasn't able to make a spectacle of myself by being (1) slow, (2) grumpy, or (3) whining. Chris described it like this:

You are soooo glad you didn’t do this hike!  It was a killer. There were 9 of us did the whole loop ... 3 people went up Welcome Pass.  The high meadows were so beautiful!! The ridge walk was continual views (although still gaining some altitude for much of it). We met Al, Cathy, and Ken near Welcome. And then the steep steep steep hike down. And we had to walk an extra mile out to the highway because the road had a terrible hole in it. A marvelous but challenging hike, good company, and tired feet!

And as I said in my previous post, I did do this entire thing once before, five years ago. It was hard then, but I think maybe the Universe arranged for me to miss it when I banged up my knee. (Or maybe it was just me being clumsy.)

Richard and red blueberry bushes (Chris photo)

 The fall colors are still pretty stupendous up there in the High Country, aren't they? And then finally the Welcome Pass group saw the others arriving, looking happy and still doing great. That's Tom and Jim in front here.

Here they come! (Cathy photo)

They probably stopped for a quick breather, or maybe not, before starting down the steep Welcome Pass trail. I don't think I'll ever attempt those 67 switchbacks again, since I know if I had done it last week, I probably wouldn't be walking without pain quite yet. Cathy, who did the Welcome Pass bit, said about her experience, "In a word--grueling.  And I 'only' did Welcome Pass and maybe a mile into High Divide with Al and Ken."

Getting ready to descend to the pass (Cathy photo)

Since Cathy took this picture and Chris is in front of her, I suspect that this is the order they went on the descent. You can see that even with all the downhill work in front of them, the shadows were getting long. But what a beautiful day they had! I am so happy to be a part of such a wonderful group, and I'm also glad it was them and not me!
:-)

A different kind of Thursday post

Twinkly lights on our trees

I captured these pretty blue lights on the trees in our downtown on my way to the coffee shop. Yes, I went there this morning since I still cannot hike long distances on my injured knee. Well, I can, but I sure couldn't do the one Al scheduled, with an elevation gain and loss of 4,400 feet over 11.6 miles. We did this in the past, and it wore me out, and that was in 2013, five years ago. Check out the description here. Around nineteen Trailblazers are attempting this today. From that link:

Excelsior Pass to Welcome Pass via High Divide Trail is ... a point-to-point trail located near Deming, Washington that features a river and is rated as difficult.

I would go along with that: it's difficult partly because Welcome Pass is hard to hike in either direction because it's so steep. In 67 switchbacks, it's impossible not to shred my knees going up OR down, even when they are in good shape. Nope, not for me today. Instead, I walked gently around Lake Padden and got some wonderful pictures of the fall colors, like here.

Lake Padden's fall show

I went back in my blog archive to see if I could find any pictures of the High Divide trail, and I found this one, which I still love because of the mist.

High Divide August 2009

What the group is doing is a car shuttle, with the majority doing the entire hike and going up Excelsior Pass, walking the five miles along the High Divide and then descending via Welcome Pass. A smaller group decided just to hike up Welcome and meet the others and when everyone is together, mosey back down to do the car shuttle.

High Divide October 2014

They are likely to see pictures like this one, because the weather is perfect for such an attempt, partly cloudy and cool, with lots of fall colors. Me, I was happy to see Lake Padden this morning and will visit the acupuncturist in an hour.

Calm and peaceful Lake Padden this morning

Once I get some pictures from this hike and a description of how it all went, I think on Saturday I'll fill you in on the adventure. I'm curious about it all, too. I love it when old people push themselves to the limit, as long as it all turns out okay. I suspect it will fine, because everyone knows what they are getting into. Right? What could possibly go wrong?
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Adventures with needles

Needles and electric currents

I just got back from the Prime Sports Institute where I had my first acupuncture treatment for my various aches and pains. This one concentrated on my sore heel as well as my sore knee. I asked Warren, the acupuncturist (whom I like very much) to take some pictures of me while I was needled up. Once he stuck in about a dozen or so needles, he then ran an electric current through some of them, as you can see in this picture.

This was not my first adventure with needles. When I lived in Boulder, Colorado, I went to a Chinese acupuncturist for several sessions to deal with menopausal symptoms. He also managed to fix up some other issues I had. He didn't speak any English and his wife (who was only intermittently available) translated for him. It was an experience that convinced me that this treatment is invaluable for all kinds of physical issues.

Today's visit wasn't fun exactly, but I rather enjoyed it nevertheless. I could actually carry on a conversation with my acupuncturist, and I have made appointments for the next six weeks and am looking very much forward to them. Since I won't be hiking on Thursday this week, I will see him then, and once a week thereafter until my appointments run out. I got a deal for signing up ahead of time. I'll keep you posted on my progress!
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