Author: DJHikers

I first did Fragrance Lake back in October. This is a nice, moderate hike through nice 2nd-growth forest.

There is a trail that goes around the lake but in October a portion was closed for pending construction. Today, I was able to go around the lake as the little bridge project had been completed. Cheers for the mighty mighty trail angels!

On the way back, as I did last time, I took the little side trip to the view point over Bellingham Bay. Spectacular. I brought my good binoculars and I trained them on a huge boat in the bay. Through the binocs I saw ‘EuroNav’ on the side. Quick web search reveals this is a huge shipping company, the largest on the NYSE.

But looking pretty tiny without the binocs.

This is a long drive for me but I double the pleasure by heading north just a few more miles to visit the Bellingham neighborhood of Fairhaven. So, as an old retired guy, what do I have to do that is more fun or more productive than a hike and a Fairhaven visit?

Track (about 5 miles) is below.

This hike is a good workout but it is not very photogenic. Still, having started before dawn using my trusty headlamp I was able to watch the forest slowly come into view as the sun rose.

About .5 mile before Central Peak I passed the always nostalgic Bullitt Fireplace:

William Bullitt was a local rich guy. Many years ago he owned much of Squak Mountain and had a cabin there. I heard his wife did not like the area so he ditched it and, at some point (perhaps in his will) he donated his land for a protected hiking area.

So there you go.

I may get out on Wednesday on the other side of Squak for a bit tougher hike.

Track below.

Just a little conditioning hike up to Stan’s Overlook on Rattlesnake Mountain. 4 miles give or take.

On the way home I took the “back” way (via SR203) and stopped at Snoqualmie Falls because I had heard it was really raging these days:

A fun little hike. Decent forecast for the weekend, I should get out on Sunday again.

Woods on Norway Hill

I did my latest conditioning hike yesterday – web site broken only now is it fixed – a nice 9 miler.

I always like those double-wides with a river view as I near Bothell Landing:

I got out today. I did a snowshoe trek going east on the PTC and then up the Olallie Trail until my legs started complaining. Round-trip it was about 5 miles.

5 miles isn’t all that far, unless you are in the deep snow and pushing upwards. Plus, the Olallie Trial, which was created by mountain bikers for mountain bikers and hikers, is clogged with large blowdowns right now:

I hope the bikers have big saws, because when the snow melts and the bikers return, it is going to be tough to navigate with a bike.

The parking lots are nasty, lots of deep snow. The mountain passes are all closed right now, due to avalanche danger, and the store shelves are getting bare with no trucks getting through. I-90 is closed from Exit 34 to the pass (Exits 52 and 53) and that means every person looking for mountain recreation, like hiking, snowshoeing and cross-country skiing was forced to squeeze into the area west of Exit 34.

And so, when I got back to the car, I was faced with a nasty traffic situation. The road in to the trail head is a narrow 2-lane strip. People were stopped in the lane going towards the lot, I presume waiting to see if a parking spot opened. But people were trying to pass the stopped cars, and that left no room for anyone (like me) going the other way.

I swear, otherwise intelligent people make the dumbest decisions when it comes to parking near trail heads. They don’t want to admit they let their lazy asses stay in bed too long and they got there too late. The smart choice would be to turn around. But no, they push on, clogging the roads and endangering all the people who parked far, far away and are using the road as a hiking trail.

Whatevs. A good workout.

Jan and I did a little snowshoe outing on the Palouse-to-Cascades trail, parking at the Cedar Falls trailhead and heading east a little ways on the trail.

Jan is not a hiker but she will do a snowshoe once in a while. We only went about a mile and a half (see track below) but there is a bit of effort involved when you are trudging through the snow with the snowshoes on.

It is beautiful around there right now:

And here is Jan as we got near the parking lot on the way back.

A fun outing!

I did a little loop this morning, not too difficult. But a fun time in the forest. I’ll be looking for ways to get out next week as much as I can. Last week of the year!

The weather was halfway decent today so I got out to Cedar Butte – a vanilla route, PTC to Cedar Butte Trail both ways. I took the steep route up Cedar Butte and the not-so-steep route down. It took me just a bit under 2 hours, 3.95 miles.

This was a decent workout and a fun time. I saw zero people until I got back to the car, where there was one more car in the lot with the couple gearing up for an outing.

There was a bit of snow in the forest, not enough to present any difficulties but just enough to make the forest shine. Same with the three ledges.

I didn’t take the Christmas Lake trail back but I did get to peer at it through the trees.

Nice little jaunt.

I did my new conditioning hike today, up Norway Hill to the Tolt Pipeline Trail and then to the Sammamish River Trail back to where I parked, at the Bothell Park and Ride. This hike, which is just under 9 miles, is a loop (see track below) so you can park at any point along the loop. I picked the Park and Ride because, on the way back, I would avoid a generally busy bike corridor.

It has been raining every single day and today has been no exception. But there was a window of clear sky this morning so I took off. Just as I was turning the key in the ignition to drive home it started to rain. Lucky timing.

I will see if I can dodge some raindrops later this week. I am sick of not hiking and I am sicker of not hiking than I am (currently) sick of driving on freeways.

I parked at the May Valley Road parking lot and went up the main trail to Bullitt Fireplace, and then beyond the fireplace to Central Peak. I took the South Access Road down. About 5.5 miles, a good workout on a mostly sunny Sunday.

There was a light dusting of snow above about 1800 feet. The trees at the summit were nice, as seen above.

I sure like to hike in the morning rather than sit around on my old, old duff.

Track below.