What a fun bunch we are. Raring to go on a dark, wet day.
Our group of 12 donned our rain gear and headed up the trail behind Marjan.
She was filling in for our "Fearless leader" - Pat, who was at home dealing with a head cold. We had hiked this trail in January of 2015. If you want to see what the area looks like on a beautiful blue sky day with wonderful views you can read that post HERE.
As we began our upward trek it stopped drizzling and we were getting a bit warm, so when we got to a section where the trail crosses a logging road we stopped to change out of our rain jackets.
We came to a downed tree and had to scramble over it. When Joe and Ed came to it they whipped out their handy hand saws and cleaned up the branches. When we returned after lunch we had just a couple of nice logs to step over. Their work was greatly appreciated.
There was a nice low fog/mist hanging in the trees.
We had just enough of a clearing in the clouds to make out Lake Whatcom below.
Our group broke up into 3 groups. One group (of 3) stopped just before the trail really got steep to eat lunch. They made sure they had some car keys with them, so they could get out of the weather if they returned before the rest of us. The second group (of 4) stopped about a 1/2 mile from the first group for their lunch. Marjan and the rest of us pressed on hoping to get to our usual lunch spot. The weather was deteriorating. We agreed that since the wind was picking up and it was raining that it probably wouldn't be a great idea to go on and eat our lunch in the open area we usually eat at. So we found a nice sheltered area and stopped for lunch. Bill took this picture of Marjan and I just settling down to eat.
It was a quick lunch for our group, it was chilly and our hands got very cold. We packed up and made our way back, hoping to connect with our other hikers. As we left our spot I took this picture of our misty forest.
We hiked out quickly and were happy to find all of our group at the parking lot. As it turned out they had just gotten there themselves.
Proud of us.
Hardy folk were hiking today.
Endomondo stats:
total miles - 4.7
minimum altitude - 352 feet
maximum altitude - 1938 feet
total ascent - 1586 feet
total descent - 1523 feet
As I'm in training for several events in the next few months I decided to "Spartan up" (push myself further) and hit the trail again after I got dropped off at the Bellingham Senior center. I really wanted to get some more distance in for the day.
Endomondo stats:
total miles 5.3
minimum altitude - 429 feet
maximum altitude - 539 feet
total ascent - 163 feet
total descent - 140 feet
My totals for the day:
total miles 10
total ascent - 1749 feet
total descent - 1663
