Labor Day in the U.S. arrived with lots of hot weather. Since COVID most people have not been traveling much but that is starting to ease up a bit and we did not want to get out on the road with a lot of other people so we stayed fairly close to home. We normally go for a walk every morning and just head out from our house but have been going a bit further afield the past few weeks.
Saturday morning after watching some of the Tour de France while having coffee we drove into Bellingham and did a nice walk on the Interurban Trail. We parked in the lot along Old Fairhaven Parkway and headed out. The trail is relatively flat for about a mile until it drops down to Old Samish Way then crosses the street and enters Arroyo Park for about a mile then crosses California Street and parallels Chuckanut Drive. This last portion of the trail goes for quite a few miles all the way to the parking lot for Fragrance Lake. There are some mileage markers along the way so you can decide how far you want to go. The zero point is actually in the opposite direction from where we started. We entered the trail at about the 3.25 mile point. We went out a little over 3 1/2 miles turned around and came back. It was perfect temperature for walking, we had nice views thru the trees looking out to the water and there were not many people. Most of the trail is pretty wide so social distancing was easy. About 2/3 of the people we saw were wearing masks of some sort. Many of them only pulled up their masks/bandana when they encountered a person. We did not wear masks but kept our distance. My husband, Scott, has tried several different styles and types of masks and has a hard time breathing with them on so he does not wear one when we are out walking only when going into stores, etc. It was nice to see a friend out running with her daughter.
Later on the same day I did a 20 mile bike ride from home into Ferndale to the library to do a curbside pickup of some audiobooks I had placed on hold. It was so nice to not wear a jacket and enjoy the sunshine. Scott painted the front porch while I was gone.
Sunday was another morning of coffee and the Tour de France followed by our normal Sunday walk of 4.5 miles. It was really calm out and the tide was right so I decided to go for a paddle. Launched my kayak and headed out of the canal behind a power boat with 3 guys on board. When they got out by the day mark they threw a line overboard and I realized it looked like a tow rope. Then I saw a guy putting on a wetsuit. He then proceeded to go waterskiing. I live on the Strait of Georgia looking at the San Juan Islands and the water is cold. It varies between 45-55F. There is usually a chop on the water so waterskiing is not an event I see often.
There were several tugboats anchored waiting to assist ships going to or from the nearby oil refineries. There were also lots of buoys marking crab pots as it is crab season in our area. I paddled along the beach to the dock at the nearest refinery and back. Saw some porpoises, seals, sea birds and lots of kelp. Managed to get in 5.5 miles. Then took advantage of the nice weather and went for a bike ride. Love riding when it isn’t windy.
Monday we headed out early to do a hike in the mountains. Drove up to the ski area at Mt. Baker and parked in the Austin parking lot. Only a few cars in the parking lot at 9 AM which meant not many people on the trail. We normally drive a bit further to the end of the road at Artist Point and hike into Chain Lakes and back but today we decided to do something different. We had never been on the trail from the lower parking area to Chain Lakes and have never done the loop. There is a trail that goes from the Artist Point parking lot to the Austin parking lot to complete the loop and we had not done that before.
It was a little chilly when we started as the wind had really picked up, blowing at least 20 mph with higher gusts so I started w/a lightweight long sleeve shirt on over a short-sleeved technical shirt but it came off after about a mile when I warmed up. The air was clear which was nice considering the number of fires in eastern Washington and we were having an east wind that had started to blow some of the smoke our direction.
The trail heads a short distance downhill, crosses a creek then goes along the edge of the hill and climbs up to the top of a small pass with some great views. Looking back from where we had started we could see Mt. Shuksan and the road up to Artist Point.
In the opposite direction we could look down to the lake we were headed to and to Mt. Baker.
After dropping down into the first lake you go along the edge for a short distance then out the side and start heading back up towards the intersection of the trail with the Ptarmigan Ridge Trail.
We stopped for a snack just off the trail at the top of the climb where we could look towards Ptarmigan Ridge. Scott surprised me when he pulled out a small soft cooler he had been carrying in his pack and it had an ice cold Diet Pepsi in it for me. The wind was creating some dust storms and it was cool so I put my tyvek jacket on. Took the jacket off shortly after we started hiking again. It was nice not having many people on the trail in the morning but by the time we hit this spot we had started to encounter quite a few more. I had tried pulling up my buff (bandana) over my nose as we passed people but it made it very difficult for me to breathe as we were going uphill. The trail is fairly narrow so we would step off to the side and turn away so we weren’t facing people. Most people had some type of face covering, either wearing a mask or just pulling up a bandana. I have been suffering from a bit of a stuffed up nose the past few days, a result of swimming in Lake Padden on Friday, and so breathing with a face covering has been challenging.
As we turned the corner heading back to the Artist Point parking lot we started encountering a lot of people. This is the most popular part of the trail and people just hike out a short distance from the parking lot and back. No major climbing in this section. By the time we hit the parking lot there were no parking places left. It was around noon and a nice day so it was understandable. Everyone had the same idea, let’s go to the mountain. We then started walking down the road until we found the trail that led back to the Austin parking lot. It was steep in a few places and had a some wood steps that were strung together that were not very easy to walk down. They were not at the right depth and width for me as my right knee doesn’t bend all the way so it was the hardest part of the whole hike. We talked to several people who were doing the loop but in the opposite direction.
Ended up with 7.38 miles in under 3 1/2 hours including the snack break. Lovely day. When we got home we finished off the day with a beer and steaks on the grill. Without venturing out too far from our house we managed to have a great weekend and not be around too many people. Even though we have been to Artist Point and the surrounding area many times and it is one of our favorite places to take people who visit us, it was nice to discover a place we hadn’t been to before. Had a nice bonus as the wild blueberries were also in bloom and we ate quite a few along the way. Yummy.
Wandering Wanda 
your blog is amazing!
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