Damfino Lakes to Excelsior Peak hike

 Today my husband and I with our adventure dog "Scoutina" hiked to the top of Excelsior Peak via Damfino lakes. The temps stayed at a nice temperature again for our dog, with all of the water found on the trail she did great. The last time I hiked to the Peak was with my husband in 2017, we hiked from the Mt. Baker highway. That route is much steeper and farther than the route we did today. The last time I did this route was with the Senior Trailblazers August 14, 2014. I didn't realize we were hiking it almost to the day that we did it10 years ago! You can read that post HERE. Today makes the 4th time I've been to the top. 

Warning: this is a large photo dump post. It's been awhile since I've been here and I wanted to capture every moment that I could.

Little things make me happy, like using the restroom at the trailhead and seeing that the toilet seat leaf was still there after all these years💓 If you read the post from 10 years ago, I posted a picture of the leaf then as well.

Also, 10 years ago the trailhead sign lumber/posts were new. Yes, another chance to go back and look at that post from 2014 for the comparison.

Our start photo from today, with the weathered timbers.

 An extra large heart rock not far up the trail.

Making our way up through the forest section .

The trail junction signs

Damfino lakes, and Scoutina's first swim of the day!

I always love the boardwalks💓

Another heart rock on the trail

Flowers in bloom along the creeks. You may need to zoom in to see the flowers better.

Into the open and our first chance for views.

I wondered if the big open meadow area was still open or if the brush and trees had grown up since my last visit there. I was glad to see it was still as I remembered. 

There were hoards of grasshoppers in the open areas of the trail. Scoutina loved them, she tried to catch and eat as many as she could.

More beautiful flowers.

Our first view of Excelsior peak in the distance.

Making our way up the stone steps towards Excelsior pass.

The peak is getting closer.

Excelsior pass is in this area of the signpost. The trailblazer group ate lunch here before they headed back down the trail.

We headed around the back side of Excelsior peak for our upward journey. We could see where the trail from Mt. Baker highway came up and joined this trail.

Some views of the snow covered hills below the clouds.

A view from the top looking toward Mt. MacFarlane in the distance in British Columbia

More views from the top

Scoutina the adventure dog on the top of Excelsior peak

As we made our way down the stone steps we took a detour to explore a small pond in the distance.

So many flies and bees in the flowers, thankfully they didn't bother us. A constant buzz could be heard for most of the day.

A nice reflection as we walked back along the lake.

I spied a heart rock as we made our way back to the main trail.

One more photo of the beautiful flowers of the day.

Nearing the parking lot, I looked back and got this photo that I couldn't get on our way up because the sun was too bright.

Amazing Bracken fungi dripping with some kind of moisture or pitch?

When we hiked up the trail there were no sign in papers in the trail register box, but when we came back by my husband checked and sure enough they'd been refilled, so we got to fill in our trip info.

A great day in the high country. 

Mu heart is full.

Trail rated: Moderate

Total miles: 7.5

Total ascent: 1665 feet

Scott Paul Trail hike

 My husband and I with our adventure dog Scoutina hiked the Scott Paul loop yesterday. It was overcast with no hope of seeing Mt. Baker at the high point of the hike but we enjoyed it immensely anyway. The low clouds presented a totally different experience for us in the high country. The bonus for us was lower level creek crossings and cooler temps for our dog. Yay!!

One of the reasons I hiked this trail this week was because I had hoped to re-join the Group 2 Senior Trailblazers., I even went and paid the big bucks for the Senior Center membership (a requirement to be a part of the Senior Trailblazers). Group 2 was my group of choice when I used to hike with them a few years ago. Now this would still be my group of choice because Group 1 is too fast for me and  Group 3 has too many people attending their hikes for my comfort level. I'm not such a group hiker and that one is just a bit much for me although it seems to meet the needs of those that enjoy a social experience while hiking. Our hike yesterday brought back the reality of my skills. I haven't done much mountain/high country hiking this year, and we realized I'm still probably too slow on the uphills (with a pack that has the required amount of water "for me" to be drank on a hot day) to be with a group now. So my joining of the group will be delayed until I have more experience back on the hills.

I did hike this trail several time before, 3 of those times were with the trailblazers. 

You can read those posts here: 2013, 2014 and 2015.

Before the start photos at the trailhead.

Scott Paul trail junction.

Wonderful tall trees.

Droplets of water were on the leaves of the plants.

Lots of Bracken fungus on the trees.

This was our view most of the day. Very low clouds.

Our usual lunch break meadow had no views or logs to sit on, so we kept journeying up the trail to find a nice log to sit on for lunch.

I was happy to see there were still a few wildflowers in bloom as well as some tasty berries.

Our first creek crossing was uneventful due to the cooler day with less snow melt.

We saw and heard several Marmots along the trail.

A nice heart rock.

Making our way along the moraine. I love this section.

Next creek crossing.

The swinging bridge was up. It's a bit wiggly but not bad. 

Our dog Scoutina successfully crossed her first swinging bridge with my husbands gentle words of encouragement and positive reinforcement. He is attached to her with a waist leash and was holding onto her harness throughout the crossing.

Another bridge crossing. There was one more minor bridgeless stream crossing after this.

The last meadow of the hike

Some color in the meadow and by this time it was drizzling out.

After photo. I thoroughly enjoyed my day on this trail.

A deer at the parking lot.

Trail rated: moderate/hard

Total miles hiked: 9.2

Total ascent: 1945 feet