Aldergrove Park BC Trailblazer hike

Today the group 2 Senior Trailblazers start their winter schedule. We'll meet 1 hour later at the Bellingham Senior Activity center, 

Yay! 

I tried something different today. 

Since our group hike today would be heading into British Columbia, Canada I called our fearless leader to see if I could get picked up in Lynden. Our meeting place is the Bellingham Senior center, and since I live in the county it would give me a considerably shorter drive & it's on the way to our destination. It was agreed, they would meet me in Lynden on their way to the border. It was a very foggy drive up to the crossing.

18 of us piled out of the carpool cars, anxious to enjoy the day on the trail, the fog had diminished by the time we got to the park.

The hike today was Aldergrove park, we usually hike this in the fall and it is a great place to see the beginnings of fall color.

The trails meander through forests, marshes and fields.

Near the pond, I noticed this rock with a plaque on it. It recognizes the youth that worked together on the park rehabilitation project in 2002 - 2003.

There were a few ducks swimming away from us today, but I loved the reflection of the trees in this pond.

We stopped for a break to take the time to look at this rock, it had rock climbing bolts drilled into it.

I looked up the wall of the rock and caught a glimpse of blue sky!

We sauntered on enjoying the gentle rolling trail. 

This log was covered with mushrooms.

Time for lunch. 

The picture doesn't do the large tree in the center justice. It was really beautiful with the green field in front of it for contrast.

After lunch the sun came out even more. 

It was a pleasant day for us to be together in Oh, Canada ;-)

Whenever we do this hike we stop at Edaleen dairy for ice cream cones. 

This lovely lady was sitting by the door!

I'm glad I made the phone call, it was really nice to drive just a short distance home after the day's hike.

Endomondo stats:

Total miles hiked - 5.07 miles

maximum altitude - 294 feet

minimum altitude - 99 feet

total ascent - 375 feet

total descent - 399 feet

Picture (s) of the week ~ Seattle Super Spartan race 2015

Yesterday I went to watch family & friends do the Seattle Super Spartan race, yes again I felt the same excitement, adrenaline and admiration I had felt when I watched my first Spartan Race in Washougal in 2014, but yesterday I was reminded once again about what pulls me to Spartan races. 

It is the triumph over what life has handed you. 

To turn your can'ts into I can's. 

Watching this man finish brought it all to me clearly. Determination, dedication, desire, living life to the full. 

This is what Spartan means to me. 

I truly have no excuses.

AROO!

Fall Happenings

It always takes me a bit to ease into fall, but some of these things help :-)

I'm savoring it with enjoying the last of our garden's bounty.....

going on long walks & runs near our home. 

I always enjoy a nice forest lane.

Enjoying the sight of pumpkins, the scent of apple cider in the air, and the sound of children's laughter floating in the air,

courtesy of Stoney Ridge farm.

Enlarge to see the wagon heading towards the pumpkin field

As the season of rainy days has begun and our hours of daylight are shorter, we are beginning tasks for the inside of our house. This week we finished painting our living room & hallway ceilings and walls. Soon we will attack the dining room, kitchen and bathroom. It will be nice to have the fresh coat of paint to brighten our walls during the winter months.

Another old seasonal friend is visiting me, my annual fall cold has arrived right on cue!

I'm arming myself with all of the good things I know to do.

Happy Fall, enjoy and stay well ;-)

Picture of the week ~ Fall caterpillars

Tent anxiety

There are times in life when we say "finally, it's about time".
This has been one of those years for me.
I spoke of my years of anxiety that began in 1999 with my first full blown panic attack from a claustrophobic night at Yellowstone in THIS POST, from April 2011.
It's been a slow journey to get back to camping in a tent and feeling comfortable at night. My claustrophobia and uneasiness in the dark have persisted. I've had some really good experiences at car camping with large groups of people at campgrounds the last few years, but we hadn't been doing much camping where we were a long way from civilization or in very dark areas. Whenever we'd been camping I was always wanting it to be in open areas and hoping for bright night skies - full moon preferable with lots of stars, like the Tall Pines campground near the Yakima river canyon.

 This summer when we were camping on our river rafting trip on the Main Salmon river we had it all - the moon was full and the stars were bright. The first few nights we slept out under the stars "no tent".

The only reason we moved into a tent on that trip was because the no see-ums were trying to eat us alive. We didn't put up the rain fly and I could still see the beautiful sky through the mesh ceiling. We were "FAR" away from civilization and I was the most comfortable I've been camping for a long, long time.

The river trip was 7 nights, the most I'd been camping for years.
We decided to pursue our love of camping again and plan some trips. Our Mt. Rainier trip came with some challenges that I didn't expect. We had fully intended to backpack again. The weather changed those plans, so we opted for day trips from the campground. We had rain nearly every night, and it was very cold at night. That meant no moon, no stars and the rain fly needed to be attached. So much for my "supposed" need to see light at night. Since we were car camping we brought many layers in case it was cold at night. I also learned it wasn't so bad to sleep in a mummy bag, wonder of wonders.
The first night we settled into our sleeping bags and closed the tent door, turned off our headlamps. I felt that old panic and "flee" feeling and thought to myself - wow it's really dark in here. As I was heading towards the tent door to get out, I stopped and thought why yes, it is dark. It's night, it's supposed to be dark. I told my husband what had gone through my head and we laughed and that was it. The spell was broken. I survived 7 nights of rain, with a rain fly, no moon, no stars - I was a multi night tent camper again!

I haven't been in our small backpacking tent since my panic attack in Yellowstone, this last Monday night my husband set it up, put the rain fly on. I slept in comfort and peace in that small dark tent I'd been dreading for so many years. I've even learned to sleep in a mummy bag. We recently purchased one so I would have my own. Since I've had issues with claustrophobia, I thought this was something I would never conquer. I found out they are really cozy on a cold night!

I've been pondering what has produced this big change in me, this ability to do things easily that once seemed too daunting to ever attempt again.
It seems that finishing a Spartan race had changed something in my brain and adopting the Spartan lifestyle has done a lot more for me than a group of counselors, a psychiatrist and 7 years of taking anti-anxiety drugs could not.
It taught me that I can indeed "Spartan up" and live my life again.
It taught me that I can turn my "I cant's into I can's".
For that I'm truly thankful.

"Life begins at the end of your comfort zone"
AROO!

Picture of the week ~ Bellabeat leaf

My leaf

https://www.bellabeat.com

Picture of the week ~ Watson lake

Watson lakes Trailblazer hike

An overcast sky met us at the Senior Center for our long (nearly 2 hour) drive for today's hike. We were driving down to Hwy 20 and the Baker lake area from Bellingham. I am always surprised when we get a good number of people to show up for these "long drive" hikes - 13 today!

We drove "up" an awesome gravel road to the trailhead parking lot. Nearly at the top I asked "Pat" if he would stop the car so I could get this photo of Mt. Baker with Baker lake below. The sky was looking particularly ominous.

There is an outhouse and a good sized parking lot at the end of the road, which is the trailhead.

We signed in and were off.

I loved all of the boardwalks trails, besides the view these were a highlight for me.

Just before the we dropped down to the lakes we entered the Noisy - Diobsud 

Wilderness area.

Our first view of upper and lower Watson lakes.

We hiked past the first lake and had lunch at the upper lake. 

What a view!

On the way out one of our hikers struggled on the uphills, so we decided to take turns carrying his pack. I volunteered first. Since I started training for my next Spartan race September 1st, I jumped at the chance to get in more of a workout. 

Bonus! 

(Thanks to Joe for taking the photo above and below)

The overcast skies continued throughout the day and we had a light shower just as we were finishing and reached the cars, but it didn't last very long.

I hadn't done this hike before and I loved every bit of it. 

It's definitely on my - "go back and do" list.

Endomondo Stats:

Total miles hiked - 5 miles

Total ascent - 1522 feet

Total descent - 1369 feet

Maximum altitude -- 4864 feet

Minimum altitude - 4176 feet

Picture of the week ~ Sunrise, Mt. Rainier