Four of us started from the Blanchard Upper Parking Lot to hike to Lily Lake and Oyster Dome. The plan had been to hike from Chuckanut but recent rock falls onto Chuckanut Road made us scramble to change plans.
The portapotty at the trailhead is well stocked but reeked of ammonia. I spent as little time in there as possible. It was much better when we returned to the cars around noon.
We headed out under gorgeous sunny skies at 7:55 with a high speed (on the flatter portions) of 3 mph and average for the trip 2.5 mph. This was a Mountaineers CHS-2 April hike and everyone did great with the pace, covering 8.9 miles with 1747' gain and three very short breaks to sip, change out of layers, and grab a bio break at Lily Lake, with 25 minutes to snack at Oyster Dome and absorb the great view of the Sound, Anacortes, and some soaring birds. On the morning we had 18 bird species including a pileated woodpecker, some swallows, lots of singing Pacific wrens, a raptor, a raven, Townsend's warblers, and my first evening grosbeaks of the season.
We did the Lily Loop clockwise and were not disappointed; more people were coming up as we headed down from the Dome, but other than one couple and two mountain bikers (plus evidence of horses based on fresh manure on the trails) once we got on the east part of the loop we had it mostly to ourselves. Along with plenty of red-breasted nuthatches and Pacific wrens.
Afterward we enjoyed salad and pizza at Edison's Terramar Brewstillery and heard another 8 bird species. All in all a fabulous day made even better by fewer-than-usual people on the mountain. Definitely a wonderful area to visit.
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