This morning as we met at the Senior Center, our "fearless leader" Pat laid out a map to show us his proposed route for the day.
Our route marked out in green.
15 of us began our hike today from the Bowman Bay parking lot after a long carpool from Bellingham.
There was a chill in the air even though the skies were blue, with a promise of warmth later in the day. It didn't take long for us to warm up once we got to Pass lake and began our upward trek.
Joe, from our group has been itching to use his new hand saw on some trail work. He finally got a chance. Our "crew", helping him get the job done.
We made our way up the Ginnett trail for lunch up on the foundation of an old house site.
The sun's warmth was wonderful while we sat and ate our lunches, I sat on a bank a little below this concrete foundation.
My lunch resting spot
(photo credit Joe Hashmall)
The view of Pass lake in the distance.
Daffodils about to open.
Vinca in bloom.
Then it was on to the new section of the trail. Pat and Ed in our group work on trails throughout the year, and this was one they had helped with. We walked by an old log cabin where the roof had long since fallen in. Ed and Karen posed for me in the cabin.
Farther along we came to an old mine. It didn't go back very far, I went in and with the light from my cell phone was able to see the back wall.
In the photo below I'm looking back towards the opening from about half way back in the mine.
Walking back through the Jurassic Park-ish ferns.
When we got to the trail junction, Pat decided we would go straight back to Pass lake and walk the Bowman Bay road to our cars. He was done for the day. I enjoyed this hike, as Pat is a wealth of information about the area and the trails we hike on. We had hiked this before in April of 2015. That time we did the full route, you can look at the pictures and read about that day's hike HERE.
After we got back to Bellingham, I decided to go for a quick walk around Lake Padden since our hike today was cut short.
The perfect way to end the day.
Endomondo stats:
Total miles hiked - 6.45 miles
minimum altitude - 4 feet
maximum altitude - 402 feet
total ascent - 647 feet
total descent - 739 feet
My "Spartan up" extra training miles walked after the hike - 2.55 miles
minimum altitude - 416 feet
maximum altitude - 538 feet
total ascent - 104 feet
total descent - 141 feet
My totals for the day:
total miles hiked/walked - 9 miles
total ascent - 751 feet
total descent - 880 feet
