We've been warming up for the hiking season, Herself and I, with near-daily 3 mile walks around the neighborhood, so 4 miles round-trip seemed like a great way to start the hiking season. But then there was the "I thought you KNEW what 2000 feet meant" conversation, and in the end we agreed it should have been about our fourth hike.
Nonetheless, the weather was perfect and skies were clear as we headed up the trail late in the morning, with five vehicles in the lot before us. The pink rhododendrons were out all through the forest, the trillium were finishing up, and there was something that looked like bunchberry (?) scattered about. It was a nice opportunity to practice rest-steps as our lungs protested that "this is not the neighborhood we usually traverse". Quite. But health and comfort trumps clocks when you're Of An Age, and we meandered a comfortable 2.5 hours up and took maybe half that on the way back down. I enjoyed the "halfway post", which appears accurate with regard to elevation gain, but I think it's beyond the 1-mile mark. That might explain why the second half seemed steeper. (So could the shape I'm in.)
The recent lack of rains added some slight haze to the views, but there is nothing like being above it all on a near-cloudless day. The vault toilets were clean and well-stocked, though one might question positioning them at the edge of a steep forest slope with the doors leading...out and hopefully not down! Mt. Walker is still a great, well-kept trail for the day when you need more vistas in your life.
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