First training outing for the Mt. Rainier climb which I am doing for Big City Mountaineers Summit for Someone program. www.bigcitymountaineers. It was a good uphill on the old PNT to Oyster Dome with a cold fog and little views at the Oyster Dome. A few blow downs, but nothing major. Made it back to the car and decided to hoof it up to the Hanglider viewpoint. A lot of big trees down, but the path is clear to the viewpoint. Thanks trail crew! The sun came out and the views were much better than earlier and there many people of all ages enjoying the day. If you want to help more people enjoy the outdoors, make a donation to my climb at https://ssl.charityweb.net/bcm/summit07/donaldjenkins.htm Your donation will help inner city kids go on 8 day backpacking or canoeing trips and it just might change their life. Any tips for climbing Mt. Rainier would also be appreciated.

Hiking in the wettest convergence zone in March with 70% chance of rain? Why not? Oyster Dome is a very nice workout in spring when the mountain roads are still dicey. It offers a good 7 mile round trip workout, nice views over Samish Bay toward Anacortes and the San Juans, and many optional trails and loops. The Oyster Dome trail is the western terminus of the Pacific Northwest trail that snakes through the wilderness all the way to Montana! This end, however, is poorly marked. To get there, exit I-5 at the Chuckanut exit and travel 10 miles. When the road leaves the flat farmland to wind along the coast, look for Oyster House Manor. The next restaurant is Oyster Bar & Grill. That is about 50 yards too far. Go back to the small turnout and see the trail abruptly climbing from the road. The trail ascends steeply up the ridge and is in very good shape for the first two miles to lookout junction. The lookout is a quick 15 minutes to the right and worth the view. The left trail climbs steadily for one mile upward and is clogged with many serious blowdowns. There's lots of work for sawyers up there. Cross Oyster creek and arrive at the sign for the Bat Caves to the left. I continued right up a steep 500 feet to the top of the hill where lots of old steel cable is lying around. Along the way is an informational sign about glaciers. After the cable mound is a small creek and a quick ascent to the Oyster Dome, a little under 2000 feet elevation gain from the trailhead. We made it in 2.5 hours, slowed down considerably because of the blowdowns. This is a good winter hike and a good leg workout. On a clear day, the views from the top show both Anacortes and Bellingham and many the islands dotting the straits.

Half of Bellingham (and their dogs) was up at Oyster Dome on this gloriously sunny Sunday. I started hiking at the upper Blanchard Mountain traihead, ascended via the Incline Trail and decended on Max's Shortcut. All trails were in good shape and free of blowdown. Some ice and snow lingered on the summit of the mountain. Lily Lake was frozen solid.

Trail muddy with several blowdowns, a few wet spots to cross. Small amount of snow higher up. Very dark in the forest on a cloudy/drizzly/foggy day. Avoid horse poop.

We did the “clockwise loop” to Oyster Dome from Chuckanut Drive: up via the “Oyster Dome” trail and back via the Pacific Northwest Trail. There was little damage from the recent wild weather. The part of Pacific Northwest Trail we hiked was all in good condition, with just one or two very minor “step-over” blowdowns and no washouts or other significant water damage. There were a number of trees down on the “Oyster Dome” trail, but all were passable to the average hiker (though one or two would probably qualify as notable nuisances). I seem to remember that at least some of those blowdowns were there last winter. Otherwise, the “Oyster Dome” trail was it usual self, rather steep, rocky, and eroded in places, but not significantly worse than last year. The sign for the final spur to the spectacular Oyster Dome viewpoint off the “Oyster Dome” trail appeared to be down (or I was even less observant than usual …). Anyway, at the top of the last significant steepish climb, perhaps 1/3 mile past the (signed) branch-off of the Talus Trail, note a fairly clear trail going left (and down toward a rather noisy creek) and a quite clear trail going right. One of the “Save Blanchard Mountain” information cases is nailed to a tree on the right at this junction. The left branch at this point goes to the viewpoint; the right branch leads, in ½ mile or so with little or no steep uphill, to the upper junction with the Pacific Northwest Trail. The sweeping view from the view-perch on Oyster Dome was all visible, with no interference from clouds (even Mt. Rainier could be seen). Lest there be any confusion in terminology, what I call the “Oyster Dome” trail branches from the Pacific Northwest Trail about 1 ½ miles up from Chuckanut Drive (about ½ mile short of Samish viewpoint), and rejoins it as noted above approaching Lily Lake.