Larrabee State Park - Rock Trail, Larrabee State Park - South Lost Lake Trail & Larrabee State Park - Double Diamond Trail — Monday, May. 8, 2023

Once again, Bellingham represented the Banana Belt as far as hiking today, so Larrabee it was! We'd never done the Rock Trail and I was curious. Wow! It did not disappoint.

Approaching from the South Lost Lake trail, we hung a right at what is currently an unmarked, but obviously main, trail (the sign was there a few months ago, so not sure where it vanished to). You gain a considerable amount of elevation on the mile-or-so stretch, much of which happens via stairs. Maybe a thousand feet? The two notables are 1) that the trail is so well-maintained and nicely designed, with the staircases in fine condition and the passage through the rock "garden" so thoughtfully made, and 2) the "rocks" themselves (erratics galore and humongous sandstone cliffy areas). I have never seen so many erratics in one place. Pics don't capture the landscape. If you're a geologist, artist, or nature nut, it's a pretty remarkable trail.

The ten thousand stairs (well, actually about 200) make for a little lung expansion, but I tend to enjoy these things. I was pretty sure the trail topped out at the head of Cleator Road, but didn't know for sure. So, once we reached a sign whose only options were either taking the Double Diamond bike trail down to Fragrance Lake Road, heading back down the way we came, OR taking our chances on an unsigned mystery destination, we opted for the Double Diamond. That got us down to the Fragrance Lake Road and two miles from the parking lot in purportedly .7 miles, BUT--Holy Mother of G-d, it was steep. Thankfully, no demon bikers were blasting down the trail at the time. In fact, I spent most of that section wondering what kind of Evil Knievel folk would brave the thing. Anyway, it got us down in short order. There were some nice views, if one dared to look up from the precipitous descent, of the islands, as well as some pretty old second growth Doug firs along the way. Wildflowers are out! We saw trillium, bleeding hearts, montia (candy flowers), and salmon berry blossoms.

Upshot: great conditioner hike, cool rock formations, nice island/Samish Bay views from the South Lost Lake portion, wildflowers are out.

Our route: Lost Lake parking area>Fragrance Lake Road> South Lost Lake trail> Rock Trail> Double Diamond trail> Fragrance lake road back to parking lot.

RT was 8.1 miles according to park signage. We did not use poles, though one might consider it, especially going down the Double Diamond! Happy and safe hiking, Everyone!