On Sunday July 19, we drive 45 minutes to the town of Sequim, then another 40 minutes to the trailhead. Along the way, we notice that the usual sunny sky is now overcast, possibly foreshadowing a viewless hike into the mountain. Too late to turn back, so we hope for the best.
Near the trailhead notice board, John, Jay, and Stella walk toward a foggy trail.
Stella, Tyler, Chloe, Justin, Joaquin, Rex heading toward the fog, not knowing whether the fog would lift.
Most trailheads have one or two outhouses. But not this one. So we take a few moments to get ready for a long hike. Standing around are Chloe, Rex, Alice, Joaquin, John, Stella, and Jay. Tyler and Justin in the distance waiting for the start of the adventure.
Soon the fog clears, with blue sky overhead...
From here, the trail begins to climb steadily steeper.
Taking a short snack break on this rock overlooking the snowy mountains and deep valley. This is the only group picture taken on this hike: Jay, Tyler, Justin, Chloe, Rex, Alice, Stella, Joaquin, and John, with Clarie at the camera.
With the sun fully overhead, John decides to dress down.
The woods protect us from the hot sun. With this unusually dry season, only a couple of mushrooms are seen on the semi-scorched ground.
A slight pause after a steep climb.
A happy Rex.
Stopping for lunch at the bench in memory of Phil Hall, a longtime volunteer from Sequim. CC, Alice and Stella take the opportunity to rest their feet.
A breathtaking panoramic view of part of the Baldy and Gray Wolf mountain range.
With four of the hikers deciding to stop and wait, the rest continue onto the turn around point at 4.6 miles: Tyler, Jay, John, Rex, Clarie, and Joaquin. We are quite elated to have reached this point.
The weather remains gloriously warm as we wind our way down, joining the others in the woods. We then decide to take a different route back to the start. Descending down to a beautiful field of low growth and deciduous trees, we enjoy the change of scenery.
Soon we emerge from the field onto an old abandoned road, with abundant wild flowers.
Unbeknown to us, this old road goes on and on, with very uneven terrain and lots of rocks. The afternoon heat is also bearing hard on everyone. By the time we finally reach the trailhead and the beautiful sight of our cars, we figure the return trip is almost one mile longer than the original trail, making the total distance of today's hike about 10 miles, and over 7 hours.
It is a great hike!
