Horseshoe Bend Trailblazer hike

Yikes! 

27 of us today for our Horseshoe Bend hike from the Bellingham Senior Center, several new people and a return of a "summer only" hiker.
What a nice day for a hike. 

We stopped first at the Ranger station at Glacier for our last use of facilities ;-) and for those that needed to purchase passes for parking.

We then drove the short distance up the road to the trail head parking.

Thankfully it was all in the forest. The shade was welcome as the temps were near 80 degrees.

The trail is rated as easy, but I think that is just for the section that hugs the river, as soon as the trail left the riverside it got a bit more moderate, with some short steep ups and downs.

Some of the interesting sights today were the beautiful red berries on the trees,

of course the view of the river.

& Leslie, showing us just how large the trees were -

I really enjoyed our lunch spot, so peaceful at the water's edge.

I also took some pictures of people enjoying their own space for their meal -

Dan

Ed

A big thanks to Joe for taking this picture of me today.

How can a person go home grumpy after being out in such a beautiful place sharing good times with good people.

*not to gloat but a stop for ice cream was made at Glacier afterwards!!

Endomondo stats:

Total miles hiked - 4.77

Lavender and Mint

The stretch of warm weather we've been having is working out perfectly for me and my drying plans :-)

I'm harvesting our Lavender and Mint and drying it outside in our shed. The 80 degree temps (well above 80 where I'm hanging them) we've been having are drying everything out quite nicely. The photo below shows the fresh cut Lavender in the basket and the dried Lavender and Mint hanging behind.

The dried result!

Hmmm.....I'm dreaming of Lavender syrup for our Sourdough pancakes, Lavender & Mint jelly, Mint tea with a few Lavender flowers thrown in for flavor and Lavender Shortbread cookies. 

Winter is going to be so yummy!