Larrabee State Park - Chuckanut Ridge Trail — Saturday, Mar. 14, 2026

This morning's weather report for Bellingham predicted partly sunny skies and basically no precip. Eh, not so much. We set out on Edelman's birthday hike at about 10 a.m. (two days early, because of Monday's outlook). The little flurries hitting my windshield we figured would fade away to sun within half an hour . . . By the time we reached our lunchtime destination along the Lower Chuckanut trail, it was blizzarding. It was a mini-blizzard, with smallish flakes, but it was still a full-on snowfall--and beautiful.

Our route today was South Lost Lake TH up Fragrance lake Road, cutting off towards Cleator, then down Cleator to the Lower Ridge trail. RT was about 8 or so miles, with some nice elevation gain for the lungs and hamstrings. We saw lots of folks out for trail runs (Bellingham has a great running community! Shout out to the Greater Bellingham Running Club!). Also, a few bikes. The trail system at Larrabee is tremendous--lots of old growth cedars and Doug firs, waterfalls here and there . . . Today was lovely, with snow-draped trees enhancing the sense of quietude. Keep hiking/walking/running/cycling, folks. Rejuvenation for the soul.