Trip Reports

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.

This was a Mountaineer's Hike. Started hiking at 7:35 a.m. Ascended the PNT Trail, then Samish Bay Trail with a side trip to Oyster Dome. No one up here at this early hour. Continued to Lily Lake and more exploring. Returned via the PNT via Samish Overlook where we watched the gliders. Stats were 2,750' and 13 miles. Trail had mud and water especially on the Samish Bay Trail and around Lily Lake, but less than expected given this wet spring. Most of the tread is in excellent conditon. This is really a grand loop with beautiful forest, a creek, lakes and a variety of views. Signing is marginal, but you can get an excellent map on the internet - www.pnt.org/images/map-blanchard .gif which is far superior the 7.5 topos. An alternative return can be made using the Lily Lake Trail which merges back into the PNT with little change in the stats. Go early to get a parking spot and to beat the crowds which flock to Oyster Dome on weekends. Logging starts in the next few years so go soon before the chainsaws arrive.

May 17th hiked into Lizard lake with Troop 36 BSA. Trail in great shape, all blow downs removed. Met a few hikers and horseback riders. Hiked from lower parking lot to lake , 5 miles. We set up camp did a little fishing then took off for Lilly Lake, Oyster Dome and the Bat Caves. Trails all clear and in good shape. Sun was out and the view from the Oyster Dome amazing. Watched the boats out in the bay and some rock climbers, then went in search of the Bat Caves. Spent over an hour crawling around the large caves near the bottom. Hiked back up the hill and returned to Lizard lake. Hiked out in the warm sunshine Sunday. Trail in great shape not to many bugs yet fishing good.

Our itinerary took us up the Oyster Dome Trail, then east towards Lily Lake to catch the Pacific Northwest Trail back down the mountain. Although the Oyster Dome Trail is more rugged (lots of rocks and roots to walk over) and steep than the PNW Trail, both were well maintained and easy to follow. We had to walk through several patches of mud and easily crossed a few streams. The views from Oyster Dome and the Samish Overlook were spectacular, but the crowds on the trail diminished our experience somewhat. We arrived at the trailhead at 9:30 AM, and there were already several cars parked along the side of the road. We ran into two other groups of hikers at the Bat Caves. When we arrived at the top of Oyster Dome at about 12:30, there were already ten other people up there eating lunch and enjoying the view. During our descent, we had to move to the side of the trail a few times to allow mountain bikers to pass, and more than a few piles of manure reminded us that this is a multi-use trail. The most annoying things were the numerous unleashed dogs. On two separate occasions a random dog came running up from behind us and scared my wife. Almost every group of hikers brought their animal, and of all of them only one woman had hers on a leash.

Stepping out from the car and onto the trail for this one I was struck by a very curious sensation - things were colorful! Greens, blues, browns, yellows, even reds. I felt like I'd walked into a Skittles commercial after so many monochromatic snow trips. Hoisting a light backpack and trodding along without gaiters or snowshoes gave an old, almost forgotten familiar feeling. My last trip without snow seems a distant memory. The crunch of dirt under boots felt great. After a quick dirt ball fight and a few mud-angels we had the euphoria worked out of our system and onward we went.

The skies were grayer than forecast and it was cooler than expected. I'd cleaned up my SLR to haul along for this one. Not too many big views so along the way I practiced my Quarktography (""Quark-tog-raff-ee"" N. photographing interesting small objects, usually plants and flowers, close to the ground and from odd angles.) We found some nice fiddle-heads, some wood violet, a few emerging bleeding heart, and I spotted my first trilium of the year. I was now convinced spring is here.

We paused for a look at Samish overlook, then headed up Max's shortcut towards Lily lake. It was chilly here so we kept our speed up to stay warm. In awhile we emerged at the junction near Lily lake. Our routefinding here began to unravel. We were following Karen Syke's Hike of the week directions and a map of Blanchard mountain. Her route description was for the opposite direction and the map seemed misleading, making us believe the route up was from the Talus cave trail. We bypassed the Lily lake turn off, later to regret it.

The Bat caves are reached after a very steep downhill section, then crossing a rickety bridge built on two small fallen trees. Someone helpfully scrawled ""cross at own risk"" into the first plank to boost our confidence. It seemed fairly sturdy and we made it. But at the bat caves we could clearly see our error looking up at the cliff towering over us. We didn't feel like backtracking though. I went a little further to peek into a cave before heading back. There's a warning sign here disclaiming pretty much everything under the sun that could happen including ""speleophobia"". It's not often I learn a new word on a hike.

We continued downhill and climbed onto a big rock with a nice view out towards the sound. By now the clouds had lifted and it was warming nicely. After a nice break we pushed on down the connector trail and again met the main trail for the final descent back to the car, and onward to tulips.

Oyster dome photos: http://www.pbase.com/billcat/oysterdome/

Tulip photos: http://www.pbase.com/billcaat/tulips2008/

Got to trail head about 11:30 - plenty of parking. Trail is snow free. A few small blow downs and a bit of mud, but no major problems. The view makes it worth while. Trail is full of folks wearing killer cotton and carrying nothing....

Who would have thunk? Wanting to avoid the craziness anywhere near a mountain pass, Jim K and I figured that heading north to Oyster Dome -just a couple of miles as the crow or seagull flies from Puget Sound - would mean little, if any snow. As soon as we took Exit 240 off of I-5 and headed west towards the trailhead (turn left on Barrel-something road - less than a mile from the freeway; then you turn right in .6 miles on the Blanchard Hill Road) there was slippery snow on the road. We opted to go only about a mile or so up the road to the lower parking lot, since there was probably about a 1/2 foot of snow on the road and, basically, we are wussies.

The weather was predicted to be scattered showers basically through the day. Well, there were some clouds around - but it continued to clear and was a beautiful day. It was about 34 degrees when we started at the lower trailhead about 9:45 a.m. There were two other guys who showed up - they had parked further down the road, not wanting to get stuck in the snow higher up. You walk about 300' feet up the road to the actual start.

Right from the beginning, there was a lot of snow on the trail. It's about a mile walk from the lower parking lot via the trail to the upper parking lot - that was pretty much snow covered - probably just as well that we hoofed it to here. We turned right at the sign to head toward the Incline trail (planned to make this a loop and would come back the Lily/Lizard Lake route). The start of our outbound route would be on road and would continue about a mile - only saw ski tracks - no one else had been along here for awhile. It already was starting to be an absolutely glorious day although we would spend most of the day in the trees - this would not have been one of Trail Pair/K's favorite routes! lol

We reached the trailhead to start up the Incline/Alternate Incline trail - it's a pretty obvious left turn off of this logging road. You don't run into the actual trail juncture between Incline and Alternate Incline until you are about 50 yards up the trail. The snow is pretty substantial right away. We had decided not to take our snowshoes - thinking that the snow ""couldn't be THAT deep"" hmmm (for more pictures - go to www.nwhikers.net for the Oyster Dome report) We continued our trek - heading through heavily flocked trees - that were occasionally - no - frequently dripping or dropping snow-bombs on us.

I had never been on this side of Oyster Dome - only hiked it from the Chuckanut side. Jim had only been this way once - and that wasn't in snow - and, we conveniently left the map in the car. So we weren't absolutely sure of the route - and we were pretty much breaking trail the whole way. All was fine, except for the time when Jim was sure we had missed the turn to Lizard Lake - but there hadn't been any trail markers. Not to let a crummy little trail sign stop us - we headed out on what looked to be a possible trail/old railroad grade - well, that turned into about a 1/2 mile slog through nearly waist deep (at least for me - and I was in the lead) snow.

We abandoned this plan fairly quickly and headed back to the main trail and continued on - even though it didn't seem as steep as Jim remembered it. Finally, we ran into some trail signs that answered our questions about ""Where the heck are we?"" So, we decided to take the Lizard Lake trail - good decision. We returned to the main trail again and headed to Lily Lake - we had yet to see any sign that said anything about Oyster Dome. Undaunted, we continued on towards Lily - passing a sign that identified Max's short cut - but we weren't headed in that direction - we headed to Lily.

After a quick visit we connected back to the main trail - where we finally saw a sign that gave us some hope that we were on the right trail. We crossed a creek once and then came to an unmarked junction - the trail coming up from the left (West) was the trail from Chuckanut. Fortunately, the trail ahead up to Oyster Dome was broken by others - so I was off duty. We crossed the creek again and started heading up - not too steep - and probably a 1/2 mile from the junction - but here is what we were waiting for - breaking out of the trees into a wonderful overlook - looking to the south and west. Spectacular. There was one solo woman (on her way down) and three folks/two dogs just getting ready to head down. All four had come up from the Chuckanut side.

We enjoyed the views and the great weather - had our lunch - by now it was about 1:45 p.m. - and then decided to head back down. On our way, we passed a whole bunch of folks - in varying kinds of attire - heading up. Lots of tennis shoes; even a guy in knee-length shorts. I doubt that anyone expected this much snow at the top - but the trail was well-beaten and the snow was still soft enough so it wasn't slick (if it gets cold tonight, it will be awful!) We decided to head back to the Lily Lake junction and take what we believed to be the loop back down to the upper parking area. It seemed to be right - but we started to get concerned when the route continued to head west - instead of east like we thought it should. Finally, two women were coming up the trail and said that we were on the right route - but we were still doubtful - because we could see Puget Sound! We were really getting a little concerned. But, after about 2.5 miles the trail took a hairpin turn east and we felt a little more assured. The trail also started losing snow - and there was little snow on the trees by now.

As we got closer to upper parking lot, we got one last great view to the south. It did look like some weather was moving in - maybe today turned out to be the better day of the weekend after all. We got back to the upper parking lot - there were now two cars there - regular ol'cars - they had no trouble getting up the road. The trek back from the upper lot to the lower lot seemed to take forever - but we were back to the car before 4:00 p.m. A great choice on a day when other snow options weren't as promising. And, Gus' new haircut seemed to keep the snowballs to a minimum! Stats (only a guess - but fairly reliable) 11 miles; 1800' gain. Great day!!

Finally, a sunny day! To take advantage of the rare warming rays, we hiked to Oyster Dome on Blanchard Mountain. From the upper Blanchard trailhead, we walked the logging road to the Incline Trail, then followed that steep trail up the hill. The Incline Trail was in poor condition with numerous blowdowns, mudholes, and running water on the tread. In fact, the entire Blanchard Mountain seemed saturated with water, with creeks running just about everywhere. There was much more snow than usual on the upper part of the the mountain, one to two feet in places.

The Incline Trail eventually leveled out and followed an old logging railroad grade, passing a turnoff to Lizard Lake and later, Lily Lake. Heavy gloppy snow and frequent mudholes covered the trail around Lily Lake. You will need well-sealed boots if you want to keep your feet dry around here.

The Oyster Dome side trail was relatively dry. As usual, a crowd of happy hikers festooned the summit, enjoying the sun and fantastic vista over the Puget Sound and San Juan Islands.

We returned via Max's Shortcut, which was muddy but free of blowdowns. Eventually this trail connected to the main Lily Lake Trail, which in turn led us to the parking area. All in all, a nice day of hiking despite all the mud.

Oyster Dome has some large blowdown in the middle third of the trail but no bushwacking required. A nice workout as always.

Lower section of the trail (PNT portion) has been cleared of blowdowns. Upper portion still has some, including a fairly annoying one about 2/3 of the way through the hike.

No other obstacles except a little mud.

First training outing for the Mt. Rainier climb which I am doing for Big City Mountaineers Summit for Someone program. www.bigcitymountaineers. It was a good uphill on the old PNT to Oyster Dome with a cold fog and little views at the Oyster Dome. A few blow downs, but nothing major. Made it back to the car and decided to hoof it up to the Hanglider viewpoint. A lot of big trees down, but the path is clear to the viewpoint. Thanks trail crew! The sun came out and the views were much better than earlier and there many people of all ages enjoying the day. If you want to help more people enjoy the outdoors, make a donation to my climb at https://ssl.charityweb.net/bcm/summit07/donaldjenkins.htm

Your donation will help inner city kids go on 8 day backpacking or canoeing trips and it just might change their life. Any tips for climbing Mt. Rainier would also be appreciated.

Hiking in the wettest convergence zone in March with 70% chance of rain? Why not? Oyster Dome is a very nice workout in spring when the mountain roads are still dicey. It offers a good 7 mile round trip workout, nice views over Samish Bay toward Anacortes and the San Juans, and many optional trails and loops. The Oyster Dome trail is the western terminus of the Pacific Northwest trail that snakes through the wilderness all the way to Montana!

This end, however, is poorly marked. To get there, exit I-5 at the Chuckanut exit and travel 10 miles. When the road leaves the flat farmland to wind along the coast, look for Oyster House Manor. The next restaurant is Oyster Bar & Grill. That is about 50 yards too far. Go back to the small turnout and see the trail abruptly climbing from the road.

The trail ascends steeply up the ridge and is in very good shape for the first two miles to lookout junction. The lookout is a quick 15 minutes to the right and worth the view. The left trail climbs steadily for one mile upward and is clogged with many serious blowdowns. There's lots of work for sawyers up there. Cross Oyster creek and arrive at the sign for the Bat Caves to the left. I continued right up a steep 500 feet to the top of the hill where lots of old steel cable is lying around. Along the way is an informational sign about glaciers. After the cable mound is a small creek and a quick ascent to the Oyster Dome, a little under 2000 feet elevation gain from the trailhead. We made it in 2.5 hours, slowed down considerably because of the blowdowns.

This is a good winter hike and a good leg workout. On a clear day, the views from the top show both Anacortes and Bellingham and many the islands dotting the straits.

Half of Bellingham (and their dogs) was up at Oyster Dome on this gloriously sunny Sunday. I started hiking at the upper Blanchard Mountain traihead, ascended via the Incline Trail and decended on Max's Shortcut. All trails were in good shape and free of blowdown. Some ice and snow lingered on the summit of the mountain. Lily Lake was frozen solid.

Trail muddy with several blowdowns, a few wet spots to cross. Small amount of snow higher up. Very dark in the forest on a cloudy/drizzly/foggy day. Avoid horse poop.

We did the “clockwise loop” to Oyster Dome from Chuckanut Drive: up via the “Oyster Dome” trail and back via the Pacific Northwest Trail. There was little damage from the recent wild weather. The part of Pacific Northwest Trail we hiked was all in good condition, with just one or two very minor “step-over” blowdowns and no washouts or other significant water damage. There were a number of trees down on the “Oyster Dome” trail, but all were passable to the average hiker (though one or two would probably qualify as notable nuisances). I seem to remember that at least some of those blowdowns were there last winter. Otherwise, the “Oyster Dome” trail was it usual self, rather steep, rocky, and eroded in places, but not significantly worse than last year. The sign for the final spur to the spectacular Oyster Dome viewpoint off the “Oyster Dome” trail appeared to be down (or I was even less observant than usual …). Anyway, at the top of the last significant steepish climb, perhaps 1/3 mile past the (signed) branch-off of the Talus Trail, note a fairly clear trail going left (and down toward a rather noisy creek) and a quite clear trail going right. One of the “Save Blanchard Mountain” information cases is nailed to a tree on the right at this junction. The left branch at this point goes to the viewpoint; the right branch leads, in ½ mile or so with little or no steep uphill, to the upper junction with the Pacific Northwest Trail.

The sweeping view from the view-perch on Oyster Dome was all visible, with no interference from clouds (even Mt. Rainier could be seen).

Lest there be any confusion in terminology, what I call the “Oyster Dome” trail branches from the Pacific Northwest Trail about 1 ½ miles up from Chuckanut Drive (about ½ mile short of Samish viewpoint), and rejoins it as noted above approaching Lily Lake.

The view from the top of Oyster Dome is beautiful! To get there, take I-5 to exit 231 and continue on Chuckanut Drive until milepost 10. Parking is off to the left hand side and the trailhead is on your right. The trail starts off steep and seems to continue that way. To get to the top of Oyster Dome, hike all the way up until you see a big tree on your right with a sign that says 'protect Blanchard Mountain' on it, at this point, take a left and the trail goes to Oyster Dome. The view of the San Juan islands from the top of Oyster Dome is just amazing!

Distance- 6 miles RT

Elevation gain- 2000 ft

Time- 1.5 hours up and 1 hour and 5 minutes down

Drive- 65 miles from my North Seattle home

Distance is 7.2 miles and the elevation gain is 1,900 feet. This hike is in the Blanchard Mountain area of the Southern Chuckanuts. Our route started at MP 10.1 on Chuckanut Drive (SR11). We hiked up the Oyster Dome trail which linked up with the Talus Trail. These trails are dry and in very good condition, there are many very steep areas which can be challenging and a couple stream crossings which require a little concentration. Oyster Dome was our first stop; this is a high cliff with views of the Olympic Mountains, Mt. Rainier, Samish Bay, Samish Island, Lummi Island and many more Islands. On our way back we took a spur trail that leads 0.1 mile to a giant talus field otherwise known as the “Bat Caves”. Even with the threat of rain there were many people climbing on the rocks, hiking the trails, mountain biking and enjoying the view points.

On our arrival we learned of the alarming potential clear-cut and logging road development of the Blanchard Mountain public lands area. Petitions and website information are available at www.blanchardmountion.org. This area belongs to us, not to private logging companies. We can make a difference all we need to do is speak out.

My buddy Skippy and I decided to do this hike hoping for a little better weather than we might find in the Cascades. It proved to be a great choice. We took the main route up from Chuckanut Drive and headed to the Dome for lunch. Fine weather, but a little cold and windy at the top. The trail is a bit muddy, but not bad. We then hiked over to Lily Lake and on to North Butte and it's many interesting viewpoints. It was mostly clear by this time and the views were fabulous as usual until we looked over to Lookout Mt. which has been shaved recently. It has been abused greatly with not much forest left. We then proceeded to Max's Shortcut to make a nice loop trip. This is a great segment of trail which is especially beautiful in the afternoon when this west facing slope has filtered sunlight shining on the gorgeous moss covered trees. Perfect! The bad news: this area on the lower section of Max's Shortcut is scheduled to be logged soon as well as other portions of Blanchard. This is a unique area of coastal forest with it's own special beauty. Don't let it happen. Go see it now and then look at the website: blanchardmountain.org to see what you can do.

Took Off from Chuckanut drive, Highway 11, at the trailhead just south of oyster creek. Up and up to the first junction with some great views of the San Juan Islands. Took a right at the junction and went up some more on increasingly rough trail. Roots, mud, water and a few blowdowns make this trail look like it needs some wta lovin. Took a detour on the Talus trail and checked out the bat caves. These huge rocks that have fallen from the side of Oyster Dome dwarf the hiker and make you wonder if any more are poised to come down while you are standing there. Back to the main trail and another side trip to the top of the dome for some good views of the islands sprawling out among calm seas. Down to the trail for a little more up and then dropping a little into the bowl of Lilly lake. Skirting the lake to the right brings you to camp sites and beyond that a trail to the top of Blanchard mountain and some great views of clouds today but if clear all the way to Anacortes and more expansive views of islands as far as the eye can see. A quick trip down and over to Lizard lake brings some nice campsites and a tranquil mountain lake studded with tree stumps from turn of the century logging. Returning on the more easterly trail brings you to a nice lookout connected to Barrel Springs Road, another access to this area, then down to connect to the trail back to the highway for a nice lollipop loop. The way I went was about a 12 mile round trip and 1200 feet elevation gain but many options are available for a shorter or longer hike. This is a unique area where the mountains reach out and touch the sea. Wonderful rock formations are the norm and gazing over the islands while standing at this elevation is a thing that can only be experienced in the Chuckanut mountain range. This area is scheduled to be logged in the very near future so get out here soon and see why so many are trying to save it from this ultimate peril.

A break in the weather, avalanche danger in the mountains, and cabin fever all combined led us to choose this loop to Oyster Dome. We drove to the Hang Glider Launch site at the end of the Blanchard Mountain Rd. off Barrel Springs Rd. near Alger to begin. (You can start from Chuckanut Drive, giving an extra 600' of elevation gain, but my recent knee trouble made me want to minimize steep descents.) We like to do this loop clockwise, leaving north from the HG parking lot on the PNT trail, giving us a steep climb to Oyster Dome and a more knee friendly but longer route back to the car using Max's Shortcut from Lily Lake. Clouds moved in and out as we ate lunch on Oyster Dome, with the sun peaking through only occasionally. Heading over to Lily Lake, we found the 2 big beaver dams have been breached, leaving the trail a little drier than normal, but also creating some interesting washouts. This route is usually low on mud (compared to other trails in the Chuckanut/Blanchard area) but the recent rains have left even this one quite muddy. How green the sword fern and mahonia are; makes you appreciate our mild winter climate!

Note- Part of this loop, the lower section of Max's Shortcut, is due to be logged soon. If you want to see it in good condition, go soon!

Enjoyed a fine 9 mile hike to Oyster Dome in the Blanchard Mountain area of the Chuckanuts. The countless miles of trails in this area create a fantastic venue for winter hiking, or any time of year for that matter. My buddies and I started the hike at the Blanchard trailhead, which you get to by driving I-5 north of Mt Vernon to the Alger exit (turn left at the stop sign at the end of the ramp, turn left again onto Barrel Springs Road, right onto the dirt Blanchard Hill road--signs mark the last two turns). Fine wintery weather greeted us at the trailhead parking area; crisp blue skies, bright sun nicely balancing the freezing air temperature.

From the upper trailhead, we walked past a gate and followed a gently climbing logging road a mile or so to the unsigned start of the Incline Trail. Then we followed that aptly named path as it climbed the forested slope, gaining about a thousand feet. Eventually the trail reached an old logging railroad grade and the steep grade eased off. The next mile of the trail was exceptionally fine, as it followed the RR grade on a nearly level traverse, passing mossy cliffs cut into the steep hillside. We passed the side trail to Lizard Lake, then reached a major junction with another trail that descends to the trailhead where we parked. There was inadequate signage at the junction. In fact, signage is poor throughout the area, which is owned by the DNR; there's a high potential to get lost--bring a good map.

We continued the hike by heading toward Lily Lake. Set in a shady basin at almost 2000', this area around the lake always seems to be icy in winter. This time, conditions were especially so. Abundant ice and snow lingered on the trail, making for slick footing. The lake was so hard-frozen that we saw a guy boldly walking in the middle of the lake to do some fishing in a hole he had cut through the ice.

Beyond the lake, the trail, still following an old RR grade, began a gradual descent. Perhaps a half mile beyond Lily Lake, the RR grade abruptly ended and the trail began a steep descent as it headed toward a trailhead on Chuckanut Drive. Here we found the junction with the Oyster Dome side trail ( unsigned, as usual). We followed that rough path as it dipped to a creek crossing, then made the short climb to the brink of Oyster Dome.

The view from the Dome was spectacular that day. Perched atop a five hundred foot cliff, we could see the Olympic Mountains, Vancouver Island, and countless San Juan Islands large and small, set in the sparkling waters of Puget Sound 2000' below. The calm, sunny conditions allowed us to linger for an hour in comfort. As usual we were not alone; a crowd of happy hikers and dogs shared the view, but there was lots of room on the ledge for everyone.

After a reluctant departure from Oyster Dome, we headed back the way we came to Lily Lake. There, we decided to make a side trip to another vista point on the north side of Blanchard Mountain. This little-used trail began at the hiker's camping area at Lily Lake. The faint path made a short climb to a saddle, then continued the ascent to a rocky spur north of Blanchard Mountain's high point. We found that no single viewpoint here matched that of Oyster Dome, but the views were nevertheless pretty fine and quite different in perspective. One spot provided a good look at Mt Baker and frozen Lizard Lake. Certainly this area is far more private than Oyster Dome, which every Bellingham resident (Bellinghamsters?) knows about.

We returned via the standard trail back to the trailhead, which descends the mountain in a long, moderately-graded three miles. This trail was in good condition (don't know who's doing the maintenance), generally free of snow and ice, and not too muddy. As a frequent WTA volunteer, I did notice that the drainage features rated about a ""C"" grade...needs work. The Incline Trail's drainage was better (I'd give that trail a ""B"").

Just before reaching the end of the trail, we enjoyed the sight of the sun setting beyond the Puget Sound, which reflected a brilliant, firey red glow through the forest. A nice finale to a great day of hiking.

Good Friday is a holiday in my business and I usually take advantage of it to find solitude on the trail. The mountains looked to be wet and I wanted something other than Tiger Mountain so I finally headed to a place that I have meant to explore for years. Oyster Dome sits very near Puget Sound about a dozen miles south of Bellingham. The trailhead is only about 3 miles from exit 240, Alger, on Interstate 5. I filled up my gas tank at 145th and Greenwood in North Seattle and it was 70.5 miles to the trailhead. I found a map on the internet which showed a lower and higher trailhead. I figured I would start at the lower one to maximize the distance. The lot is large enough for a few dozen cars and a new looking bathroom is on the site. I was ready to go by 8:30. I looked for the trail near the big Blanchard Hill Trail sign. A bermed old road started out. It soon ended and a rough boot path headed on. After scrambling down a steep slope and reaching a wide dry stream bed I concluded this was not a trail. Back I went. I decided since there was no trail I would drive up to the upper trailhead.

A short drive and I saw...the real trailhead. Back I went and I now walked the road to the trail. I should have looked closer at the map. I sign at the parking lot would have been useful. The real trail is quite nice. It is mostly on old roads narrowed to nice trail. After about a mile I reached the upper trailhead. There is a sign pointing the way I came but no signs pointing to where the trail continued. I again should have consulted the map. I didn't. I headed up the road to my right. I reached a gate in a short distance. It was locked. I continued on. Soon it was apparent that this was not the way to find the Lily Lake Trail. I knew the road would reach the Incline Trail so that was my new plan.

About a mile along the road I saw an obvious trail on the left. There was no sign visible from the road but a short way in there were signs. The Incline Trail went to the left and the Incline Alternate Trail went right. The Incline is straight up and the Alternate is more gently graded. I went right on the Alternate. There were a lot of signs of old logging on this trail. Wire cables were especially prevalent. After a steady climb the route moved onto an old railroad grade. The two trails came back together and soon reached the higher railroad grade. A sign pointed right 1/4 mile to Lizard Lake and left to Lily Lake. I turned right. Very quickly I reached Lizard Lake. It is not large but is a nice lake. I saw skunk cabbage along the shore. I would see much more of it this day.

The map showed a route from Lizard Lake to Lily Lake. I took a tiny boot path uphill and reached a flat area where the route disappeared. The distance to Lily Lake was short but I chose not to do a solo cross country bushwhack. I dropped back to Lizard Lake and was soon back at the top of the Incline Trail. This time I took the railroad grade on the route to Lily Lake. The next intersection had a trail going left and one right. The left was unsigned and the right said Lily Lake. The left turned out to be the Lily Lake Trail I had missed at the upper trailhead and would be my return route.

More nearly level travel and I reached a small lake on the right. Another trail turned left and it was signed ""Max's Shortcut"". Just beyond was another sign pointed right to Lily Lake. I scanned the map and pinpointed my position. I decided to continue straight ahead towards Oyster Dome. On my left was a wide muddy area with lots of skunk cabbage. As with the others, they had few leaves but there were many bright yellow spathes. At the next intersection the left route was signed for the Dome Trail. I dropped down and crossed a creek then began the climb to the top of Oyster Dome. At the viewpoint I saw one couple and heard another close by. I said ""hi"" and the couple did not even acknowledge my presence from 10 feet away. Oh well... I headed up to the highest point which had a view out to the north. I could see North Butte from there. It was 12:00 and time for lunch.

I then dropped back to the viewpoints and found a place out of sight of the others. The clouds hampered the view a little but it was still impressive. I will need to come back on a clear day. It was windy and cold at the viewpoint. After 20 minutes I had to get going. All to soon I caught up with the couple. I gave a cheerful salutation as I passed and again received no response. Oh for two... As I neared the Lily Lake turn off and the muddy stretch I saw why it was so muddy. A beaver dam had blocked the creek. With more water it would be a long skinny lake but now it was a long mud patch. Numerous trees were chewed through along here. At the intersection I turned left to Lily Lake. I immediately saw another bigger beaver dam. The beavers seem to be very busy around here.

Previous trip reports said Lily Lake was just a small mud hole. I found it to be a nice small lake full of water. I decided to head on and look for the route up North Butte. After following the lake shore the trail headed uphill. It was very muddy here but I managed to pick a dry route through lots of mud. The path was easy to follow and ended at a rocky spot. From the top of the rock I could see Oyster Dome and out to salt water. I climbed down and headed into the woods. A short distance led to an opening in the trees. I could see the bottom half of Mt. Baker. Without the clouds this would be a great close up view of the mountain. I then headed down and was back at the lake in now time. From the lake I passed Max's Shortcut which was another route that would have taken me back. Instead I backtracked to the Lily Lake Trail and took it down.

This is a very nice trail which drops in several long gentle switchbacks. From North Butte to the upper trailhead was about 4 miles. I passed several hikers coming up. When I reached the main road I turned uphill and in a short distance reached the upper parking lot. It was about 1 mile down to the lower trailhead and my car. This is a great area to hike. There are great views out to islands and salt water, several lakes, and great loop opportunities. It was really nice to go somewhere I have never hiked as well. The high point of my trip was about 2200' but with all the ups and downs I managed to get in 2700' of gain. Now I just need to come back on a sunny day.

Photos will be posted shortly at: http://www.hikingnorthwest.com. Go to ""Trips-2005"" on the left margin.

We started by the Oyster Bar on Chuckanut Drive and completed a lollipop loop hiking up the PNT to the Lily Lake Campground and back to the PNT on the Sarnish Connection. Beware of the 2 mile 60 mph speedzone just before the Chuckanut exit. The hike up the PNT offered stellar views up to an overlook, which unfortunately was a bit trashy. There were some old, rotting recliners and fire pits up there. Continuing up the PNT was a nice forested walk and very well marked by a plethora of PNT signs. Lily Lake seemed to be more of a beaver pond with plenty of beaver activity evidence including freshly felled trees. In fact the first bit of the Sarnish Connection seemed to be rerouted a little higher to avoid rising water.

The view from the top of the dome was nice and we got to see a pair of bald eagles, some other large birds of prey, and a rock climber. Hiking down the Sarnish Connection was steep in places. We stopped off to play in the boulder field and bat caves which I'm not sure we found. There were jumbles of rocks we poked our head into, but we never found a system to climb into. The rocks were very slippery in places and covered in moss.

Hike down from there was short and we passed a number of hikers coming up late in the day. I'm guessing this hike gets packed on a weekend.

We did see 3 blooming trilium and tons of those yellow flowers that I think are skunk cabbage. I guy we met who may have been one his own kind of mushrooms claimed he was hunting for morells.

I left the parking area at Samish Overlook with Daisy the Wonder Dog and Yetiman at 10 am, and headed the ""wrong way"" down the PNT towards Chuckanut drive far below. At the first switchback, we turned right on the Samish Bay Connector, which took us up and down and over to the Oyster trail. Then it was up and up on a rough and rooty trail, very slippery in places, to the Talus trail that goes to the Bat Caves. We spent three hours exploring the area and nursing the dog through some pretty rough scrambling and bouldering. We made it up to the rock wall of the giant cliffs right in the center, and took plenty of pictures of the great views and cool cliffs and rocks. Next it was back to the Oyster trail and up an extremely steep section to the Oyster Dome side trail, which is also very steep. Great views of the San Juans, Olympics, Vancouver Island, the Gulf Islands of BC, Anacortes, and other cool things. We left at 5 and got back to the car at 6:15 by pushing straight through at full speed. The sunset had died down to smouldering embers by then, but we hung out for a couple of hours anyway, enjoying the commanding views of the Skagit valley spread out beneath us. Wow. The Samish Overlook alone is worth the drive up, just 65 miles from Lynnwood. The first picture was taken at a boulder called ""Ice Age"" on the Oyster trail before the Bat caves turn-off, the second is of the cliffs at Bat Caves.

Dry pavement and mild temperatures were a treat even though we were heading north at “O-dark-thirty”. We took exit 231 and followed SR11 to Chuckanut Manor where the search for the trailhead began. There are several pullouts between that point and the hairpin turn and the Oyster Restaurant. None of those options are correct if you are looking for the start of the PNT and the southern start of the Oyster Dome hike. The poorly marked trailhead is about .7 to .8 miles south of the hairpin turn and the parking is outside the white line on the west side of the road. This is not obvious if you are the first cars there in the morning but very obvious in the afternoon with dozens of other cars around. A good map of the area may be found at: http://www.pnt.org/images/map-blanchard.gif. We did a counter clockwise loop or lollipop trip via the Samish Overlook; Max’s Shortcut; a sidetrip to North Butte; a sidetrip to Oyster Dome; a sidetrip to the Bat Caves; and back to the cars. Between the junctions to North Butte and Oyster Dome, there is lots of beaver activitiy – gnawed trees, dams – very interesting. There were also lots of viewpoints along the way. We had good visibility with many of the San Juan Islands popping into and out of view as clouds moved through. There is some minor mud, very minor snow, and several slippery rock steps along the trail but it was a very pleasant winter trip.

This was my first trip to the Oyster Dome. It was great although the trails are quite muddy.

The trip started on road B-2000 on a trail that parallels road B-1000 for about a mile, sometimes only a few yards from the road. This part of the trail was in good shape except for a few mud holes. At an unsigned junction about 2 miles from the trail head, I took a side trail to Max's Short Cut and then up to Lily Lake. At Lily Lake and on the trail to Oyster Dome, I was surprised by beaver dams (2 of them). In one case the dam formed a lake that covered parts of the trail. The water over the trail is deeper than it looks so it is best to use the detours around the water holes.

The trail to the Dome is signed, but you have to look for the sign after a crossing of the creek dammed by the beavers. Had the top of Oyster Dome to myself for about 4 minutes then the hordes arrived. Nothing like a sunny day to bring out the hikers. The view is sublime even though I could no see the Olympics due to clouds. The San Juan Islands and Fidelgo Sound were magnificent in the sunshine.

I returned via the Blanchard Hill Trail which was very muddy from Horse and Llama use.

Note: Flies and other such critters were coming out so this may be a good time to hike this area before mosquito season starts in earnest.

If you want excellent views, a fascinating trail network, beaver ponds with live beavers, and choices between gently rolling trails, moderate root scrambles, rock climbs and caves, try Oyster Dome and the Bat Caves. Accessible from either Chuckanut Drive or Blanchard Mountain Road, one can hike part of the Pacific Northwest Trail, and then link to the Oyster Dome Trail.

Huff-puffing upwards, our trail ascends through towering cedar, flowering currant, Oregon grape, sword fern, gray rock, and refreshing streams and waterfalls. A well-marked side trail leads to the Bat Caves. We ate our lunch on a huge boulder to the calls of spelunkers below and rock climbers above. Fear not, we saw no bats. We headed for the top of Oyster Dome before rains moved in, leaving the caves for another day.

Breaking out of the dark woods onto the open cliff top, bright afternoon sun greeted us, turning muddy murk into golden glory. The fantastic view included the Olympics, Skagit Valley, Whidbey Island, Anacortes, oyster beds, Samish Island, the San Juans, Lummi Island and snow clad Canadian peaks. With all that sparkling water to gaze upon, and toasting ourselves in afternoon sun, we did not want to leave.

On advice, we followed Lily Lake and “Mac's Short Cut” trails for a fine loop that brought us back around to Blanchard Road and our car. Along the way, we discovered a beaver dam and pond where energetic beavers have exuberantly chewed a stand of stout alders. Croaking bullfrogs added to the peaceful scene and aromatic skunk cabbages bloomed bright yellow all around.

Thanks to all the wonderful folks who built this great trail system. A total of 4.5 hours and about four to five miles were well worth the effort. The few we met on this hike had happy faces.

Well it was a gorgeous day and we were camping over at Larrabee St. Park and decided to do some hiking in the area. Oyster Dome had great views, but there were too many people, so we continued onto Lily Lake(a swamp), and then headed around the ""Loop"" trail and ended up going up to the North Butte. We climbed up the rocks and caught some incredible views of Mt. Baker. Jacqui and her new toy, a Canon DC, had a wonderful time taking pictures!!!

Oyster Dome - Trail Report

The Dome is a flat open slab of rock at the top of Blanchard Mtn. with views to the west of the San Juan Islands, Anacortes and the Olympic mountains. To get to the Dome you climb a sometimes steep trail up to the 2050 ft. summit. This trail starts at an elevation of only 150 ft. on hiway 11 a few miles south of Bellingham where the North Cascades spread all the way west to Puget Sound. Since this summit is so low it's an excellent early season hike. Often snow free by the end of March. My group of 10 Mountaineers were enthusiastic as we started up at 9:30. Temperature was in the mid 50's with a 4 or 5 thousand foot overcast that we hoped would burn off by noon and there was no wind. There are several trail junctions (mostly with signs) a couple of streams to cross (easy) and a bunch of big muddy sections (but the mud was all dried up!) before the summit . The tread of this trail is mostly good to execellent but it has poor sections which are steep, rocky/rooty , straight up where switchbacks are needed, etc. Arriving at the Dome we had it to ourselves for an extended lunch and nap session! No one else on the trail all morning. The clouds did thin and break up and we needed sunscreen. The view expanded to about 20 miles by the time we started descending. Next up were the Bat Caves, also known as Talus Caves 350 feet below the Dome at the base of a vertical rock wall straight down from the Dome. No bats but big caves formed from giant rock fall off of the cliffs. The caves were the trip highlight for some of my group. For wildlife we only saw ravens soaring below the cliffs, but the flowers were better than I expected for low elevation deep forest: honeysuckle, columbine, false solomons seal, bleeding heart, wild rose, stream violet, and indian pipe. After stopping at all the view points again on the way down we returned to our cars at almost sea level by 3:30. Oyster Dome trail is on DNR land and is built and maintained by volunteers of the Pacific Northwest Trail Assoc. Not on any Green Trails map but featured in the Hiking Whatcom County guidebook. The trailhead is very hard to spot, just a tiny sign on a tree opposite a wide spot in the hiway. The PNT web site www.pnt.org has good maps that you can print but the trailhead information is skimpy.

About 8 miles and 1900 ft. elevation gain.

Robert Michelson 6-15-02

Needing an inspirational environment in which to try to finish a newspaper article I was writing, I decided that sitting on top of Oyster Dome typing away on a keyboard would do the trick. The road approaching the start of the trail (Chuckanut Drive - Highway 11) has signs all along it warning that the road is closed, but it is open at least as far as the trailhead at Oyster Creek. What a gorgeous day! The trail is in great condition - thanks to the local Pacific Northwest Trail Association that has recently done maintenance on it. And the views of Samish Bay are just awesome! Its been almost 2 years since I've been up on these mountains and it is a true mutli-use area. Though this was a weekday, there were mountain bikers, hang gliders, horseback riders, mountain joggers and rock climbers populating the network of trails in addition to a few of us hikers. I sat on top of the dome and did my work, while two of the rock climbers were working their way up the gigantic chair I was sitting on. No snow anywhere, Lily Lake is close to dry, no runoff on the trail to speak of and gorgeous blue skies. . . but no solitude.

When I got up Saturday morning, it was raining, so I decided to head north for better weather. I had been up to the Oyster Dome a couple of times from the west trail head on Highway 11. This time I thought coming from the east would be a good choice to see some new country. In the book, ""Winter Hikes"", it gives descriptions of hikes in the Chuckanut Mountains. The DNR has several trail heads on Blanchard Hill to pick from to start your hike. And the weather was good.

I used the Incline Trail off the B-1000 road, but went up the Incline Alt. Trail which is much less steep. The Incline Trail was built as a logging railroad incline 3/4 of a mile long in 1920, with a maximum grade of 38 percent by the Sammish Bay Logging Company to reach the timber in the shortest possible route. It was called the Lizard Lake incline. Once at the top of the incline I hiked the old railroad grade trail to the junction with the Lizard Lake Trail. There was about a foot of old snow on the ground, but it was packed down from other hikers. I hike over to the lake which has several DNR campsites and a privy.

I continued on past three other trail junctions to the end of the old railroad grade. This is where the PNT comes up from Highway 11 and where the trail to the Oyster Dome heads north. After getting up to the Dome it was time for lunch and the views out to the San Juans and the Bat Caves down below. I didn't stay to long as the wind was blowing (I think it always does up on top).

I did meet several other hikers, three horse rider and two mtn. bikers. If you would like to see a photo of the incline and learn some history of the area, check out the book, ""Logging Railroads of Skagit County"" by Dennis Thompson.

With the Cascades looking wet and cloudy, my friends Lee and Shelley, and I headed up north to Skagit County and the southern end of the Chuckanuts. We headed up the PNT to the view point up at the Oyster Dome. The trail switch backs up though second growth timber for a mile, then goes into an old DNR clear cut area that is growing back up with small conifers. Here you get your first views out over the water to Mt. Erie and the San Juan Islands. Once into the trees, the trail gets muddy and steep in places. At 3.5 miles you come to an old logging railroad grade, then it is only a half mile further to the Oyster Dome and some great views. This area was originally logged between 1912 to 1928 by the Samish Bay Logging Co. who had a sawmill at Blanchard on the bay.

With the wind blowing cold at the Oyster Dome, we had a quick bite to eat and then headed down. A little over a mile back we took a side trail to the Bat Caves which gives you a view of the face of the Oyster Dome from below. There are a lot of large stone blocks piled up and making some caves. There is a warning sign telling of all the bad things insides the caves. Rock climbers can do some crack climbing up the Oyster Dome on different routes.

We lucked out with the weather, as it didn't start raining until we got back down to the car, as other were still going up. And some of them did not have any rain gear. We did see two Eagles flying around and making lots of noise. The hike is describe in the book ""Winterhikes in Puget Sound & the Olympic Foothills"". 3-25.

I left the parking area
around 9:00 am, with only a couple of cars parked on the side of the road. The day was perfect - sunny and cool. Not far up the trail I ran into several Pacific Trail Network folks working diligently on the trail. The path up was muddy, but not excessively so, and I ran into only a few people on the path. The Bat Caves were a good place for a lunch break, and the views from the Oyster Dome were nice - jewels of islands floating in the blue sea beyond the land. I tried to go further to Elephant Peak but the path was lost in a few inches of snow, so I went on to Lily Lake. An inner tube fisherman was complaining about too many people on the trail (what did he expect on a Saturday'). I had run into a woman who told me about a loop trail that I could take back to the road, and I tried to follow her directions. I got slightly lost at two unmarked intersections, but followed my instincts, and found myself on a very muddy and new looking path that brought me back to the cutoff to the Overlook that I didn't take when hiking up the trail in the morning. If you are going to wander around I would advise a map unless you like the sensation of wondering if you are on the right trail (I kinda enjoy it, as long as I know I can always backtrack). The PNT people were walking out looking pretty tired as I was heading back down the trail, seven hours later. Good of them to give their Saturday to keep the trail in shape.