Our Excursion: 20230506: NW Washington Trip – Day 3
(Part of trip: )
Date of our excursion: 2023-05-06
Location: Bellingham, Washington
Our Planned Itinerary:Planned Itinerary:
Actual Itinerary:Miles Covered: 16.87
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Travelers on this Excursion: |
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We hit some cool places.
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Continents: North America |
Some featured areas we visited: |
Some points of interest we hit: |
This is the short version of our long and exciting day but I’ll update this write-up more tomorrow.
We again wake up early. The train horns are telling us it it time to start the day. Erika thinks it’s really late, but it is before 6am. Great – we can get another early start to the day.
We head out to a roadside parking spot we found using satellite images on the map program. This one does not require us to pay for parking but will give us great access to the trail. There are only 2 other cars parked. It is drizzly but it feels good. We hike down to the trailhead and realize we passed the secret trailhead we were going to take to avoid crowds. We head back to the secret trail, hike it a bit, and then see a giant sign signifying it is private property and we should probably leave. Back to the official trailhead. Well, we didn’t really need to worry about crowds. Maybe the drizzle drove everyone to stay indoors today. The trail goes UP the mountain side so we slowly progress until we reach the sign for the lake loop. For a while we don’t see a lake and then we get a few glimpses and then a few great views.
Who wants to take the same path back down to the vehicle? Not us. We had looked at the map last night to find some alternatives. It looks like we can join another trail and then hit a dirt road, and make it back to the car in a loop fashion. Well, should we trust the same map program that steered us wrong about the secret trail? Probably not…. but we do… The map showed 2 trails that we can easily join: Two Dollar Trail and Fionna Ridge Trail. Erika jokingly points at a barely-there path and says is that our path? Kristin says no, hahah, that is just some path made by hoodlums exploring this rock. Well, we look at the map and this is where the trail should be and there are no official looking trails so this must be Two Dollar Trail. hmmm… Let’s see what the Fionna Ridge trail looks like. Ummm, even worse? looks like a mudslide happened on the mountain side. Is that the trail? There is no way! but there is no other option! So, 4 choices: head back on the known, take a random path by a rock wall, take the possible Two Dollar Trail, take this mudslide looking thing. What do you think we did? Obviously, we headed up towards Fionna Ridge!
The pictures do not do this justice. This was mud mixed with pine needles so it was very slippery. It was very steep. Thankfully we found some strong sticks we could use as grapples to work our way up while also grabbing onto tree roots and whatever else we could find. We kept slipping and sliding and laughing at ourselves. There is NO way this is the trail! but it has to be! It definitely is NOT well traveled. After the first incline, we met the bushes that had overgrown the path. You could make out the path enough to tell there was supposed to be a path there but it did take some wayfinding skills and judgement calls.
The trail did eventually clear out a bit but we kept alert to make our way along the ridge. We had to climb under fallen logs and over boulders. We were shocked to cross paths with another runner. Apparently people DO use this trail! It was beautiful.
The trail end was pretty much as hidden as the beginning. I would never have guessed a trail existed there if I had been walking down the road. Who would think a trail existed behind a large rock and through some bushes? It was a fun trail for sure. Now it is time for the walk down the access road to the vehicle. We did get to see some nice views of the bay from between the trees.
After our hike, we go back to the hotel. We eat some lunch. It’s too early to call it quits for the day. We need to burn more calories so we do a John Peel build and burn workout. Erika would rather take a nap. After the workout, it’s still too early for dinner so it’s off for another walk. We are going to explore Sehome Hill Arboretum. It’s a nice little park by the university with a tunnel and a tower with some good views. The best way back to the hotel is Taylor street. This is the crazy steep hill that we walked up the first day here. We had no idea that the path continued. We thought the road deadended because there was a guardrail. Apparently there are 103 stairs behind the guardrail. We climbed those today, because we didn’t get enough exercise climbing up mountains. Maybe we can climb up steep Taylor Street and do the stairs again tomorrow morning if Erika wakes up before 6am again.
Our legs are sore. Good thing there is a giant bathtub in the room with an open windowseat. We enjoy a nice bubble bath, epsom salt hot foot soak after we eat our veggie soup.
The sunset is beautiful this evening. While the sun is setting, we check the weather and trail conditions for our planned trail tomorrow. Well, there is still deep snow there and people suggest wearing snowshoes. The forecast calls for a wintry mix. We didn’t bring our snowshoes so I guess we will have to readjust our plans.
Looks like it was quite a day. 16 miles total? WOW! Looks wet, but fun. Can’t wait to see what adventure awaits you next.