Larrabee State Park - Rock Trail — Saturday, Nov. 23, 2013

Puget Sound and Islands > Bellingham Area

This was a WTA work party to continue construction of the Rock Trail from the Cyrus Gates overlook to Lost Lake, in Larrabee State Park. We had a large work party today--perhaps word about the trail is getting out among the Bellinghamsters. Arlen "Trailblazer" Bogaards was the crew leader, with ACLs (might have forgotten a name here) Jon, John, Mike, Terry, Marty, Kathy, and Jackson. We started with a safety lecture and the awarding of a hardhat to Sylvia, and then we descended to our worksites. The trail extends about one mile now. Our projects involved refining work done yesterday. Several trail sections needed rock and mineral soil for durability. Terry supervised the placement of a new gate near the Lost Lake trail junction. Drainages were improved and sections were derooted. I helped dig up rocks and mineral soil to build a durable landing with a retaining rock wall at the bottom of a new staircase. Despite the ongoing work, hikers are already using the trail--we saw several during the work party. When it was time to wrap up, we carried out tools that had been brought in the day before. I was nearly run over by a BMX biker on the way out (the trail is NOT officially open yet--watch out for the work parties!). We enjoyed pumpkin pie, hot cider, and other holiday treats, not to mention clear views from the overlook to Bellingham Bay and even Vancouver, BC.