Oyster Dome — Friday, Jun. 13, 2008

Puget Sound and Islands > Bellingham Area

The clouds lifted enough by midday to enjoy the superb view from Oyster Dome. Deep woods flowers blooming, and even a patch of columbine shortly before the branch-off of the Samish Connector from the Pacific Northwest Trail. We hiked up from Chuckanut Drive. Trail conditions about as good as they ever are, except that the fairly numerous mudholes on the Samish Connector, the Oyster Creek trail, and the east end of Max's Shortcut are still pretty much in their wintertime morass mode. The situation on Max's Shortcut is not helped by the illegal motorbikes that have used the trail recently. People who have limited agility, or less agility than they used to have, might be happier heading to Oyster Dome by the longer PNT route (or perhaps from the I-5 side), on constructed trails. The short route via the Samish Connector and Oyster Creek trail is essentially a heavily-used way trail, with lots of ""rocks-and-roots"" steep and somewhat slippery sections (slippery at least in winter or in wintry Junes like this one); not a problem for the average hiker but perhaps less enjoyable for those more comfortable on a ""real"" trail.