Spring Chuckanut Hikes 2010

Local Bellingham Hiking in the Chuckanut Mountains: The Only Place the Cascades Touch Puget Sound
  • Pacific Bleeding Heart, from an unusual angle. Oyster Dome Trail.
  • Trillium catching the early evening light. Oyster Dome Trail.
  • Former fern fiddlehead unraveling into a frond. Oyster Dome Trail.
  • Raptor Ridge Trail winding along Chuckanut Sandstone cliffs and boulders.
  • Terminus of the Raptor Ridge Trail.
  • Lost Lake just as the rain and fog returns. Lower Lost Lake Trail.
  • Outflow from Lost Lake creates a hidden cascade.
  • Closer to the top, near the lake body, water flows over the sandstone. Lost Lake rim trail.
  • Fungus, unknown identity. Lower Lost Lake Trail.
  • Algae on top of fungus on top of moss. Madrone Crest Viewpoint Trail.
  • Fern frond opening. Upper Salal Trail.
  • Chuckanut Island in Chuckanut Bay from the Lower Chuckanut Ridge Trail. Lummi Island distant.
  • Long distance view of Chuckanut Island from the Lower Chuckanut Ridge Trail.
  • Brand new fern frond. Middle Chuckanut Ridge Trail.
  • One tiny mushroom finds a perch. Upper Chuckanut Ridge Trail.
  • Lichen close-up (the size of your pinky nail) on an old Hemlock trunk. Middle Chuckanut Ridge Trail.
  • Classic view of the Pacific Bleeding Heart so prevalent in the local woods. Middle Chuckanut Ridge Trail.
  • Pacific Bleeding Heart foliage. Chuckanut Ridge Trail.
  • Moss detail, covering approximately 2 square inches of old timber.
  • New spring growth at the tips of a Hemlock tree. Middle Chuckanut Ridge Trail.
  • Graffiti was more elaborate generations ago... Lower Chuckanut Ridge Trail.
  • Not-quite-ripe Salmon Berry. Hemlock Trail.
  • Lilly Lake reflects the one and only blue hole in the sky.
  • Recent beaver activity. Lilly Lake.
  • The old Pacific Northwest Trail Trail sign still stands on Blanchard Mountain.
  • Samish Bay with the San Juan Islands beyond. Blanchard Mountain hang glide launch, Pacific Northwest Trail.
  • Three woodpecker holes in a fir snag. Pine and Cedar Lakes Viewpoint Trail.
  • The San Juan Islands from the Pine and Cedar Lake Overlook Trail. A damp evening for June...
  • Devil's Club looms along the Hemlock Trial.
  • Fungus and moss -- characteristic of a temperate, wet forest. Hemlock Trail.
  • Lady Ferns, Wood Ferns, Sword Ferns, and others cover the Chuckanuts. Hemlock Trail.
  • Alder tree canopy above the lower Hemlock Trail.