The Trailblazer hiking schedule for today said we were going to hike the Stimpson Reserve and Lookout mtn. trails. I was curious about how we were going to do this. I've done Stimpson Reserve before, you can read about that hike HERE. The Lookout mtn. parking lot is just down the road a ways from the Stimpson parking lot. I've never hiked any of the trails on Lookout mtn., so anything there would be exploring new territory for me. Our fearless leader "Pat", told us that we would be hiking to the waterfall after the Stimpson hike.
Today our group of 19 ready to get on the trail -
We hiked counterclockwise around the loop, the sky was blue and there was a slight chill to the air. Perfect hiking weather. I loved how the sun was shining through the trees in the forest. I quickly snapped a picture of it before it changed it's angle.
I was told by Penny that the Douglas fir in the photo below was hugging it's Cedar Mother, we discussed how it wasn't willing to let go & live strong alone.
The Douglas fir below seemed to reach to the heavens.
Someone had taken the time to count the rings of this tree that had fallen and been cut in sections to allow us to walk on the trail. I didn't take the time to see if they were correct.
The photo above is a close up of the tree below.
Geneva pond with a thin layer of ice.
We found a nice spot in the sun for lunch, a few brave ones sat with Pat in the chilly shade farther back just off the trail.
I played with my camera plus app and got this macro of a dewdrop on end of a tree branch.
We ended our Stimpson hike at 4.66 miles, I paused my endomondo app and restarted it at the Lookout mtn. parking area. We then hiked up a nice incline logging road to the waterfall trail.
Just a little more "up" and then we had a nice view of the falls. I liked the little spillway falls to the left of the main falls as you can see in the photo below, trying to make it's own way down the rock. Today we had seen a tree seemingly not wanting to let go of it's mother long after it had grown into a mature tree, and the opposite "wild child" (side waterfall) wanting to find it's own way down a difficult path. Such a striking example to me of how different each of our children are or can be as they find their way through this thing we call life.
I thought the symbolism was interesting.
It was nice to see a long absent hiker join us today. Cindy, we've missed you. It was so good to have you hike with us once more.
*Just a note to update you on my allergy testing I spoke about it this POST. It wasn't a cold, I'm allergic to the indoors :-), dust mites, dust, pet dander & mold. Good thing I'm outdoors so much!
Endomondo stats:
Endomondo stats:
Total miles hiked - 5.87
Minimum altitude - 463 feet
Maximum altitude - 825 feet
Total ascent - 645 feet
Total descent - 772
