Pine and Cedar Lakes — Wednesday, Jan. 11, 2012

Puget Sound and Islands > Bellingham Area

This trail will certainly help get you in shape. I'd been warned that it was a steady climb up . . . and it is! A great day hike. Because this trail is on the dark side of Chuckanut, start early in the day. Maybe because we had stopped too long to enjoy the lakes, or stopped too many times to catch our breath during the hike up to those lakes, or stopped too many times to take photos along the way, but because we didn't begin our hike until mid-afternoon, it was dark by the time we returned to our car. I used my trekking poles to help pull me up the trail, and really appreciated having them along during the trek back down too. Makes a big difference for me! The forest was beautiful and the lakes absolutely spectacular. Beautiful reflections in both. These are wild lakes with lots of snags sticking out all over the place. Our first stop was Pine Lake. One portion of the wooden walkway at Pine Lake was submerged under about six inches of water, so we turned around at that point and took the main trail back to Cedar Lake. The trail around Cedar Lake is great, offering beautiful views all around. There is a side trail pointing to a lookout point along the trail around Cedar Lake. Again, more climbing . . . We took it partway, but by then we could see that the sun was near setting, so we turned around to begin our hike back down the mountain. Guess we'll have to go back soon as another hiker we passed along the trail told us the view of Mount Baker is spectacular from up there. Until next time, happy trails . . .