Oyster Dome, North Butte — Saturday, Apr. 15, 2006

Puget Sound and Islands > Bellingham Area

My buddy Skippy and I decided to do this hike hoping for a little better weather than we might find in the Cascades. It proved to be a great choice. We took the main route up from Chuckanut Drive and headed to the Dome for lunch. Fine weather, but a little cold and windy at the top. The trail is a bit muddy, but not bad. We then hiked over to Lily Lake and on to North Butte and it's many interesting viewpoints. It was mostly clear by this time and the views were fabulous as usual until we looked over to Lookout Mt. which has been shaved recently. It has been abused greatly with not much forest left. We then proceeded to Max's Shortcut to make a nice loop trip. This is a great segment of trail which is especially beautiful in the afternoon when this west facing slope has filtered sunlight shining on the gorgeous moss covered trees. Perfect! The bad news: this area on the lower section of Max's Shortcut is scheduled to be logged soon as well as other portions of Blanchard. This is a unique area of coastal forest with it's own special beauty. Don't let it happen. Go see it now and then look at the website: blanchardmountain.org to see what you can do.