Oyster Dome

I figured if I went hiking Saturday morning, I wouldn't spend all weekend working on the house. Which technically was true. It just meant I had to squeeze two days of chores into less than a day and a half.

I parked along the shoulder of Chuckanut Drive across from the trailhead. At 8, there were already more than a dozen cars lined up, but nothing like the zoo a few hours later. The trail itself was in good shape and pleasant on a cool morning when this forested western slope is still all in the shade.

From the top, the view west across the San Juans was crystal clear. I was seeing the same hills that we were seeing from the Canadian side in the previous post. Going back down was like a weekend morning on Mount Si - with a constant stream of people heading up. Three times, different young men responded to my "morning" with "morning, sir". This has never happened before. Maybe they were all part of a church group. Or an ROTC class. Or maybe young people are politer than they used to be. I can't imagine what else it might be! At least they didn't offer to help me down the trail or ask me where I left my walker.

By the time I got back to the car around 11:15, there were cars strung out for a quarter mile along Chuckanut.

This was my first significant hike since Mount Si one year ago. The plantar fasciitis that emerged last May has been a huge disincentive to walking - but it seems to be finally going away.