Trip Reports

Sunday's weather was way toooo nice not to get outdoors. The seeming draw back for me was that I had to be back in town too early for me to get into the mountains and do any length of a hike.
 
I decided that since I had never seen the views from Oyster Dome the three previous times that I had been up there and with the awesome weather we were having, that this hike would be a great choice. And... this was a greaaaat choice as the views really are quite spectacular even on a slightly hazy day.
 
Where I started the trail was off Chuckanut Drive just south of the Oyster Bar. No real parking lot, just a wide spot on the road. You waste no time gaining elevation. I do not know the total elevation of this hike but I will say that it is on the aerobic side. The first 1.8 miles are a pretty steady climb, then it is rolly for awhile and then more climbing to the top. The views are worth the sweat you will loose.
 
The first part of the trail is in great shape. Once you past the 1.8 mile junction, the trail is a bit wet/muddy, rooty, rocky and there are several places where you really do need to pay attention to your footing. There are a couple of talus slopes on the way that are not too bad going up but on the nasty side coming back down.
 
I would not really say this is a "kid friendly" hike unless they have some experience in challenging trail conditions. My treking poles were quite handy on the way up and I was especially glad to have them on the way down.
 
After enjoying the views and my lunch at the Dome, I started back down with a side trip to Lilly Lake. The trail to the lake is about 3/4 of a mile, quite flat and beautiful with a creek entertaining you on the way. A very nice side trip.
 
I had a greaaaat day and would recommend this hike. I am guessing the mileage to be about 7 1/2 +/- miles with my side trip to Lilly Lake. There is enough elevation gain for you to feel like you got a good work out and even with a late start I was in my car heading back home by 2:35... yay !!
 
Happy hiking...

This hike was harder than I expected. Although my expectations were that of an easy, wide-trail, day hike. The trail was pretty narrow, and very steep in some places, and I would recommend sturdy hiking shoes. Despite being ill-prepared, when we got to the top, it was definitely worth it. The panoramic view of the ocean, islands and hills was jaw-dropping, and well worth the hike.

Mark led the crew to Oyster Dome, using the alternate route in Day Hiking North Cascades to make a loop trip. We exited at 240/Alger, turned left over the freeway, left again where it's signed Blanchard Mtn Trails, and left again for Samish Overlook, where there's an open gate in the roadway. The road was narrow but fine for any car, and takes you to a big parking lot overlook with gorgeous views and the cleanest pit toilet I've ever experienced. I guess this is a hanggliding spot, but there wasn't any there yesterday.

To make a loop onto Oyster Dome, we took the lower trail at the north end of the parking lot, and after a while you hook into the Oyster Dome trail and stay right. Stay right again at the next side trail, and continue up a popular, steep, rooty, rocky, slippery trail to Oyster Dome.

Incredible views, lovely sunshine, and a ton of people up there including some young men who were rock climbing between there and the ledge below.

From there instead of going back down the Oyster Dome main trail with the masses, we stayed left at that junction and continued on towards Lily Lake. There's a clearcut caused by beavers along the way, I've never see anything like it. Just beyond the left-hand turn to Lily Lake, look for a trail to the right that makes a hairpin turn off the main trail - that's Max's Shortcut and that's the way back to the car. There was no one on this trail, a huge departure from the main Oyster Dome trail, and what's weird is this trail is in such better shape! Well graded, well draining, a pleasant walk through the woods.

Overall we think it was about 6 miles, and we think it cuts about 1000 ft off the 2000 ft elevation gain you experience if you do Oyster Dome from Chuckanut Drive. Great hike! (Trillium blooming, some mosquitoes but not really troublesome.)

What a day to play hookey! I took the day off before I had a destination picked. In the end I chose to head back to Oyster Dome and hopefully not miss the summit trail. And to my surprise I also took the day off for this trip exactly one year ago, to the day. Once again it did not disappoint!

I found myself parking on Chuckanut drive around 9am, earlier than I'd planned due to light traffic. Already it was gloriously warm and I started up in short sleeves. Walking on dirt trail with green leaves, ferns, and flowers felt great! I kept a slow pace since I had so much time, poking around every flower I saw. At the overlook I busied myself chasing ladybugs and just enjoying the sun. It was so warm I changed my zip off pants to shorts! Apologies to the ship captains: that bright flashing white light wasn't a lighthouse, it was just me wearing shorts for the first time this year.

Just like last year I took Max's Shortcut towards Oyster dome. Lots of trillium, fiddle heads and wood violet all through here. Before long I arrived at Lily lake. I headed towards the lake and bumped into another NWhiker: Schroder! Actually I failed to recognize him, a fellow funny pages resident, perhaps because he didn't have his piano. Now in possession of some helpful trail advice I continued on and up to North Butte. It was already claimed so I snapped a photo and headed back down.

This time I made the correct choice and took the unsigned turn off to Oyster dome, which I'd missed last year. Great views from the top! Blue skies, a nice breeze, and the warmest temperatures I've found this year. Someone had pitched a tent here and was spending the night on the ledge. I ate my lunch and continued down the connector trail. By now lots of other hikers were on their way up, many looking winded and asking how much further to the dome. I kept on going, stopping for occasional photos, and made it back to my car around 2:45.

Trail notes: no snow! Trails were clear of blowdowns. Some muddy patches near Lily Lake. Lots of trash along the way; consider bringing a bag to pack some out.

Photo set here: http://www.pbase.com/billcat/oysterdome2

Oyster Dome, on Blanchard Mountain above Samish Bay, is not the place to go to find solitude, especially on a sunny April Sunday. The trail is loaded with old folks, youngsters and students from nearby WWU, even though this is a moderately strenuous trail with lots of "up" to it, at least for the first mile. But when you get to the views at Oyster Dome, you'll understand why all those people huffed and grunted to get there.
After soaking in expansive views of the San Juans and the Olympics you can have a more peaceful and secluded hike back down if you make a loop hike by proceding on to Lily Lake, a short one mile from the Dome, then descending by way of the Pacific Northwest Trail. Be sure to save time to watch the hang gliders and parasailers launching off Samish Overlook towards the valley below.
On this day we found over 40 people at Oyster Dome. We had Lily Lake to ourselves for the 30 minutes we were there. Doing the loop only adds about 45 minutes hiking time and is a pleasent, quit trail that is an easier descent than retracing your steps down the Dome trail.

This one has been on my list for about a year and after reading Galiwalker’s report I decided this was the week. I sent a quick email out to the ladies group and got a couple of bites. Ended up with just one person joining me and I picked up Laura on the way to B-ham. It was quite an easy trip, quicker than I thought it would be, we didn’t hit any traffic!
We arrived at exit 231 and we couldn’t turn right over the bridge it was being worked on and had to take a detour that put us back on the freeway, a little confusing but we just followed the detour signs and another 10 miles were found the trail head. We headed up around 8:30 it was pretty cold. Forest was chilly at times but we warmed up quickly. There’s a lot of up hill on this one, some spots of ice and snow but nothing my new yak trak’s couldn’t handle. Trail is somewhat signed, we wished it was a little more signed but we found our way to the Dome okay and missed the bat caves sign going up. We think we found the caves going down, if it was a big rock? After having lunch on the dome and taking in the views we headed back down and at the T the other way on the trail. The only sign here was “no horses allowed”. We ran into a group of about 10 women and 1 man from Canada and they were really nice told us where the bat caves were and other chit chat.
Great day out, glad to meet a new friend and discover a new area. Stats 5 hours and about 6 miles. Now I pack for AZ, more trip reports to come when I return.

March 5, 2009: Bat Caves, Oyster Dome and Lily Lake (Chuckanut Mountain)

Oyster Dome was a location that I'd kept in mind for quite some time, but hadn't got around to visiting. I don't think I was expecting it to be as enjoyable as it turned out to be.

A leisurely start meant that it was almost noon when I started my hike from the PNT trailhead. The initial mile was a feast for the senses: a really beautiful forest (oh how I wish that I knew how to photograph it), with the scent of pines perfuming the air. Just as the forest lost some of its oomph, first views of the San Juan Islands appeared. Bright sunshine and fleecy clouds made for a picture perfect setting; a bench at the 1 mile mark made for a perfect place to relax and enjoy this.

Then, it was back into dense forest, with ocasional muddy patches. Around 2.5mi into the hike I reached the turnoff for the "Bat Caves"; a small batman symbol adorned the marker. The 'caves' were actually nooks and cranies amongst a jumble of huge boulders. I scrambled quite carefully around and over the boulders, since a light coating of snow made everything quite slippery. A lovely view of Oyster Dome looming high above me was the reward for this bit of effort and a nice preview of my next destination.

Back on the main trail I headed up for a short 0.25mi and then took another left, now for the Oyster Dome viewpoint. I was able to find the place empty and enjoyed the views before a snow shower destroyed them.

Back to the main trail, and then further along to my final destination of the day: Lily Lake. Nice, pretty little lake, and a perfect way to cap the day.

Additional photos: http://www.flickr.com/[…]/72157614789001451

Cumulative stats:
- Distance: 8mi
- Elevation gain: 2,100ft
- Hiking time: 4.5hrs

No need to repeat several excellent reports on this superb winter hike, but a couple of further details might be helpful to someone ...

Fo anyone doing the classic loop hike from Chuckanut Drive (one way via the Samish Connector and the Oyster Dome Trail, the other way via the PNT through Max's Cutoff), the only non-trivial snow on the trail is for about 100 yards on either side of the east end of Max's Cutoff. It is quite passable - yak trax not needed, though poles are helpful. Except perhaps for the aforementioned snow (and accompanying muddy spots) plus a few no-problem deadfalls, the trails seem to be in better than usual condition. The usual mudholes on the Oyster Dome trail are drier than usual for February.

I think this hike is being increasingly (and deservedly) discovered; I think we saw more people on the trail than I ever remember before.

Oyster Dome off of Chuckanutt Drive offers many options to explore. It is the beginning of the Pacific Northwest Trail which goes from Cape Alava all the way to Glacier National Park in Montana! (how you hike across Puget Sound is not very clear). The trailhead starts right off the highway and is not obvious. It is just south of an isolated brown wooden restaurant. Parking is alongside the road. The trail climbs steadily for two miles up a very steep slope. At the first junction is a sign and an opportunity to go right a half mile to a lookout. Go left another mile or so to a sign for "bat caves." They are not really caves but the dark undersides of mammoth boulders that make up the avalanche field below Oyster Dome. Nice view of the Dome from the bottom here and a cute little bridge that is actually pretty study. A half mile straight up comes to another junction. Left is Oyster Dome itself - a massive bare rock great for distant views over the San Juan Islands or just sunning yourself. Right is a very easy trail to Lily Lake which is still snowed over but very pretty. Somebody cut down some trees along the lake shore and left them across the trail. Over all the trails are in good shape year round, but there are a couple of stretches in the third mile that are very aggressive and washed out.

This is a popular trail on a sunny day. Wildlife included a couple taking turns carrying the backpack, an 11 month old with her two mommies, a herd of unleashed dogs with their respective herd of unleashed humans, and a man who actually asked for directions! Go figure.

Started from Chuckanut Drive around lunch. Didn't see the the trailhead on the first pass coming from south, only after parking and backtracking a bit on foot. Given that this was an (increasingly) nice Saturday it wasn't surprising to see cars parked for along a long stretch of the road (and there's a popular restaurant there, too). The trail was mostly dry, with a few slightly muddy patches further up, and even a bit of compacted snow just near the top. Crossed several small streams, only one of which required some attention in order to avoid wet feet. Quite a bit of traffic on the trail, but there were never more than three or four other couples at the top during the half an hour or so we were there. Did a small detour on the way down to see the bat caves, and wasn't sure if the cracks we found under some of the large boulders were all there is to see.