Category: Barb

Barb and I drove north for the Skagit Valley Tulip Festival today. I had been there once before which was probably 30 or 35 years ago. Barb had never been there.

We saw huge lines for the early exits and took the advice of the website:

Consider taking Exit 230 off I-5, near Burlington and north of Mount Vernon (there’s little traffic north of Exit 226).  Head west, toward Anacortes and at Pulver Road, turn left and stop in Skagit’s Own Fish Market for maps and directions.  Or, stay on Hwy 20 to BEST Rd, turn left, and continue to the roundabout…go east and you’re in the heart of tulip country, with Tulip Town a left hand turn in about a mile and RoozenGaarde a right hand turn a little farther down McLean.

I’ll bet we saved at least an hour of sitting in stop and go traffic. Those lines extended for miles.

We parked on the side a road next to a field of daffodils and walked a couple hundred yards to a field of tulips. There we walked the dirt roads next to the acres and acres of flowers.

The rest of our visit can be best described with pictures.

The daffodils were tall! They came up midway on my thigh.

Each year about this time Barb and I go hunting for chanterelle mushrooms. Today we came home with the biggest haul yet:

It wasn’t without some minor obstacles. There were weather warnings about high winds and heavy rains and as of yesterday we had mostly talked ourselves out of going today. But Barb looked out the window after getting up and said she wanted to go. There wasn’t much wind or rain at the time so we were on the road by 8:50. We had our rain gear and although the trees and branches we had to step on and over were slick we made it in and out of the woods by 10:30 with no injuries and only minor cold and dampness.

Last Friday Barb and I were in Idaho doing some preparation for Boomershoot 2017 (sign up here). The impact berm at the 375 yard tree line eroded away over the years. We fixed that and added probably another 40 or 50 feet of berm width so that we can handle more targets.

Last June Barb had originally wanted to hike to Annette Lake for her birthday. But there was too much snow so she opted for her second choice, Cedar Butte.

Instead of 3.8 miles and 900 feet of elevation gain Annette Lake is 7.5 miles and 1400 feet of elevation gain. So they say. We discovered there was about 1600 feet of elevation gain and we reached an altitude of over 3700 feet. I’m not sure about the distance but 7.5 miles sounds about right.

It was easy trail to find and follow. Just follow the signs:

Continue reading “Hike to Annette Lake”

Barb decided she wanted to go on a hike for her birthday. She spent a lot of time trying to find just the right hike. Not too short, not too long, not too long of a drive, not too much elevation gain, and absolutely required was “a nice view”.

She settled on Cedar Butte. It was only 30 minutes away from home, 900 feet of elevation gain, and 3.8 miles round trip. It seemed pretty reasonable. But what about the view? I’ll let you decide.

The “trail” started as something which was suitable for vehicles. But then we took a turn up the mountain for a much better experience.

That’s a very creative spelling of Cedar Butte.

On the way back we took an alternate route that added another 0.5 miles to the trip. Barb asked me which way I wanted to go. I opted for the alternate route and said, “I like variety.” She countered with, “I’m going to get you a shirt that says, ‘I like variety.’” I don’t know what she is talking about but we went on the alternate route.

The alternate route was called “Blowout” because of a logging camp which was destroyed when a dam burst. We didn’t see anything that suggested such a disaster but it was nice hike with a lot of trees with interesting moss formations. With the right lighting and mood music it could be pretty spooky there: