Unlike a month ago, Cleator Road is now open from the Two Dollar trailhead. We continued up the road to the end at the Cyrus Gates viewpoint and Rock Trail trailhead. It was a beautiful late morning, and both road and trail conditions were stellar. Rock Trail at the trailhead is clearly signed. Heading mostly downhill at first, we quickly reached and crossed the intersection with the Double Diamond mountain bike trail running downhill to our right, towards the Fragrance Lake Road below. At this point the Rock Trail continues downhill to reach the initial, longest set of stairways (we counted 114 timber steps in the first bunch).

From there, the trail starts to turn northward along the base of the justly famous rock cliffs. On this day they were dripping water and quite green with moss and fern - lovely. The trail continues in very good shape, finally taking a sharp southward turn. We heard but didn't see, multiple woodpecker-type birds apparently signaling potential mates, as well as a barred owl at one point.

The Rock Trail ends in a "T" intersection with the Lost Lake Trail; we turned left onto what I think is at that point the "North" Lost Lake Trail, with the rightward portion called the "South" Lost Lake Trail - that could be wrong. Anyway we continued north on a wide trail in great condition except for occasional slightly muddy stretches, easy to navigate. Pretty quickly we could see glimpses of the lake below us through the trees; but the lake itself is at the base of a thickly wooded, steep slope - not accessible. We were looking for the trail spur on our right which would lead down to the lake. Be patient: it's obvious where it is, because there's a huge trail sign at the junction.

We took the spur to the lake, requiring balancing at one point on a log passage through a swampy area. There's not much room or viewing at the lake itself; we ate lunch standing up, enjoying the sun that had become more evident as the cloud cover disappeared. Then it was time to retrace our steps and climb up those wonderful new stairs. A very nice dayhike on a beautiful day. Hope yours is too!  

Started out this afternoon from Arroyo Park, made Chuckanut Falls my first destination then I connected back to the Hemlock Trail. Continued on for about a half mile then started up the Huckleberry Trail and completed Huckleberry Trail for about 1.8 miles until I reached the Raptor Ridge Trail. Turned left up towards the Raptor Ridge Overlook. It was a very wet day. The trail had numerous puddles and mud from the overlook and the clouds where blowing thinly through the trees with the rain coming down. Without any letting up, I continued down the Raptor Ridge Trail to connect to the Hemlock Trail. Took this all the way back to Arroyo for about 3 miles with a little double backing after I had gotten turned around and started off for Lost lake at the intersect but felt that I had gone the wrong way before I made it too far down the trail. The Huckleberry Trail is a neat trail to check out with the trail navigating near old logging roads and through second growth trees that seem to be doing very well, lots of evidence of many trees that didn't make it through last season but trail crews have done a awesome job of keeping the trails cleared and free of debris. I also liked the Raptor Ridge Trail descent down to the Hemlock with little mellow switch backs along the rugged terrain, great views of trees growing along rock faces here.

Initially, the primary reason I chose this hike this week was the length - nearly 10 miles, out and back. I was anticipating a continuation of the Interurban Trail - crowded with walkers, runners, and bicyclists, with much of it near people's back yards. 

I owe the Chuckanut Trail system a big apology, and I am taken aback at my former misconceptions about the trails here in our backyard - it was wonderful!

I parked at Arroyo Park, and crossed the bridge and began the slow but steady elevation gain. The gain is not strenuous, like last week's Pine and Cedar Trail, but it just gradually goes up for about 2 miles. The initial portion of the trail is part of the Interurban Trail, and it indeed was full of people, bicycles, and many dogs, not a single one of which was on a leash. To their credit they were all good dogs.

About a mile in, the people vanished, and I did not see another person until I was nearly back to the truck. The sounds of traffic also dissipated at this point. Suddenly one forgets you are next to a city of 86,000. It is blissful quiet solitude.

At the intersection of the Salal Trail, snow suddenly appeared on the trail, and it gradually increased in depth the remainder if the trail to Lost Lake. It was crunchy wet snow, and traction was absolutely not an issue in my Keens.

Walking along the ridge, huge formations of icicles came into view. For me, they were the highlight of the hike. Pictures don't really show the scale of how large the formations were.

Lost Lake was somewhat anticlimactic, as I did not get a very clear view of it due to brush. I did not go off trail to try and find a clear view. With the snowfall, there may be trails around the terminus that I could not see. I did get the satisfaction of completing my goal, however.

The icicle formations are worth seeing, before it warms up much more and they melt.

So glad I did this hike.

This afternoon I started my hike at the Arroyo Parking lot. Through Arroyo Park until the start of Lost Lake Trail, I first encountered snow fully covering the trail in a wet and slushy mess at the Chuckanut Ridge Trail kiosk "Bravo". From there, I hiked about 1.7 miles to Madrone Crest Trail up to the Overlook, .5mile one way, then back to Lost Lake Trail and continued onward to Lost Lake for 1.9miles. Little foot traffic in the snow, but a couple tracks and one bike since snow fall. When I got to the Lost Lake Trail branch off "Foxtrot" kiosk that goes towards Rock Trail, I saw no evidence of any foot traffic heading to Lost Lake Overlook. On the approach I heard several helicopters possibly cleaning up debris from the recent plane crash in the area. The view was peaceful, also went down and took a quick look at the waterfall just a little more south on the trail. You can hear it just down the trail a few yards. At that point, had a quick snack and had to high tail out before dark. It was 4:30 by this time. Made my way back down the way I came on Lost Lake Trail, and made it to the Hemlock Trail intersect when it was getting pretty dark. Continued down through Arroyo Park in the dark. It was kind of fun seeing a couple trail runners flashing here and there on upper and lower trails through Arroyo Park. Made it back to my vehicle by 6:20. The only humanoids I saw the whole hike where in the Arroyo Park vicinity. Other than that, not a single person all the way to Lost Lake. This was about 9.8 miles round trip with Madrone Crest Overlook included. Great hike!

Started at Arroyo Park in South Bellingham, hiked a loop up to Raptor Ridge where we had a view on nothing much on this particular day. We visited Chuckanut Falls on the way back. There were a lot of trail crews out working on improving the drainage of some of the muddy places on the trail. Thanks for all your hard work and the time you devote!

GPS track and hike stats: http://www.movescount.com/moves/move198731015