Oyster Dome — Saturday, Jan. 10, 2004

Puget Sound and Islands > Bellingham Area

Dry pavement and mild temperatures were a treat even though we were heading north at “O-dark-thirty”. We took exit 231 and followed SR11 to Chuckanut Manor where the search for the trailhead began. There are several pullouts between that point and the hairpin turn and the Oyster Restaurant. None of those options are correct if you are looking for the start of the PNT and the southern start of the Oyster Dome hike. The poorly marked trailhead is about .7 to .8 miles south of the hairpin turn and the parking is outside the white line on the west side of the road. This is not obvious if you are the first cars there in the morning but very obvious in the afternoon with dozens of other cars around. A good map of the area may be found at: http://www.pnt.org/images/map-blanchard.gif. We did a counter clockwise loop or lollipop trip via the Samish Overlook; Max’s Shortcut; a sidetrip to North Butte; a sidetrip to Oyster Dome; a sidetrip to the Bat Caves; and back to the cars. Between the junctions to North Butte and Oyster Dome, there is lots of beaver activitiy – gnawed trees, dams – very interesting. There were also lots of viewpoints along the way. We had good visibility with many of the San Juan Islands popping into and out of view as clouds moved through. There is some minor mud, very minor snow, and several slippery rock steps along the trail but it was a very pleasant winter trip.