A very nice hike with a friend today at Larrabee State Park.

Interurban Trail is clear, wide, and flat with some fallen leaves on it. Pretty, otherwise nothing to report.

Fragrance Lake Trail is a sweet little trail, a bit narrower than Interurban. Steeper, too, and quite narrow (maybe more like a footpath?) on the loop around the lake. Fragrance Lake is calm and quiet, though hard to get a good view of from the trail.

Double Diamond Trail is very steep! Its a downhill mountain bike/hiker trail, with a crucial split where it's hiker-only to the right as you head uphill. This section is called Chinscraper and hiking it it is clear why. Was good cardio keeping up with my friend on this section.

The connection between Rock Trail and Double Diamond was very nice, with some clouds coming in and cooling things off. Also provided some great photo ops.

Rock Trail is so lovely. The steps make for great photography and the huge rocks here are incredible. It had been a long time since I'd been here and it was really nice to see it again.

North Lost Lake is where things get mucky. The roadwalk is fine despite some downed trees, but closer to the lake there are sections of "trail" that feel more like swamp. I sank into my ankles at one point! Had lunch at the overlook of Lost Lake - the trees across the way are a nice variety and the lake is, again, quiet and calm and mostly hard to see from trail.

South Lost Lake is quieter, though the open forest in this section and the ferns were so nice! Soon we came along to the road to return to the parking lot off 11

This is a great 11.5mile route!

Photo 1 - Variations of this view on the loop today
Photo 2 - big rocks
Photo 3 - pretty little grotto
Photo 4 - Also saw two gorgeous waterfalls today!

Edelman and I did our favorite 13-mile loop in Larrabee State Park today, a great way to recover from last night's explosions over Bellingham Bay, followed by neighborhood revelers discharging various matériel in the nearby park. Every dog in the vicinity is no doubt due for some pampering today. Nice and quiet at Larrabee, though--and lush.

Conditions/Highlights: Huckleberries are nearly ready to eat along Fragrance Lake Road; Columbia Lilies are resplendent along the Lower Chuckanut Ridge trail, as well as the top of Salal; and daisies, buttercups, herb Robert, spring beauties and other woodsy wildflowers are all over the place. The nettle crop is lookin' healthy along the South Lost Lake portion of our route, but easy enough to avoid if you know what you're looking for. Great views of Baker from the Ridge. All the trails are in great condition, signage is good. Ran into a WTA crew tending to some blowdowns along the South Lost Lake trail. Very nice folks who we thanked heartily.

Our route was Lost Lake parking lot>Fragrance Lake Road>South Lost Lake trail>North Lost Lake trail>Salal/Chuckanut Ridge trail>Lower Chuckanut Ridge Ridge trail> Cleator Rd.> cutoff towards Fragrance Lake>Fragrance Lake Rd. back to lot. About 4.5 hours hiking time, 13 miles RT.

We hiked up on the Double Black Diamond trail to the Rock trail and took the South Lost Lake trail on the way back. The Double Black Diamond trail is steep and primarily used by down hill mountain bikers so we kept having to step off the trail; we wouldn't recommend it unless you really want to train on a steep trail.  All the trails were in pretty good shape, although the bike trail was harder on the feet because of the angles built up by the bikes. There were several spots on the south lost lake trail where the bugs would get kinda bad when we stopped for a breath but overall they weren't bad.

Enjoy the paved road all the way to the Fragrance Lake trailhead, which is a roadside turnout large enough for 5-7 vehicles. Overflow parking can be found downhill across the road in the campground (flushing toilets also available in the campground).

We appreciated the gentle switchbacks to Fragrance Lake, trail was slightly damp without excessive mud. Spur trail to the viewpoint halfway to the lake was worth the short detour. Didn't see anyone until we started circumnavigating the trail around Fragrance Lake.

Afterwards, continued to South Lost Lake Trail to Lost Lake. This section of the trail was more exposed to the elements and rain, and definitely sported some muddy sections. Kept mostly dry in our rain gear. Lost Lake lacked a flat beachy area to lounge on, but the rain kept us moving, so we didn't miss it too much.

Returned via the Double Black Diamond Trail, which was much drier due to the tree cover. Spotted multiple hiking and trailrunning parties on this steeper but more direct path back to the intersection with the Fragrance Lake Trail.

Afterwards, easy roll down retracing Fragrance Lake Trail back to the trailhead.

Hike #1 of 2024! Sunshine at our house and socked in at Larrabee. We arrived at the Lost Lake Trailhead at 9:45 am to an almost full parking lot. At first we were planning to do the ranger hike but because it was so foggy, we decided to skip it and see where the Lost Lake trail went. The forest was moody and lovely at the same time. We hiked up about 1.5 miles before turning around when we noticed the blue skies trying their hardest to come out. The trail is a wide gravel road and in great shape. Plenty of space, no obstacles. A teeny tiny waterfall that made all the kids excited. We turned around and headed for Clayton beach. The trail to Clayton beach is amazing! So much work has been done to the trail. There is one very muddy section once you come down from the pedestrian bridge but other than that. Wide, gravel at times. A few boardwalks and bridge. We got to the beach and the fog disappeared quickly. On our way back we head a train coming and decided to watch from the pedestrian bridge. What an experience! You could feel it in our stomach as the train came rushing by. Overall a very enjoyable day out!