This was a WTA work party to continue construction of the Rock Trail from the Cyrus Gates overlook to Lost Lake, in Larrabee State Park. We had a large work party today--perhaps word about the trail is getting out among the Bellinghamsters. Arlen "Trailblazer" Bogaards was the crew leader, with ACLs (might have forgotten a name here) Jon, John, Mike, Terry, Marty, Kathy, and Jackson. We started with a safety lecture and the awarding of a hardhat to Sylvia, and then we descended to our worksites. The trail extends about one mile now. Our projects involved refining work done yesterday. Several trail sections needed rock and mineral soil for durability. Terry supervised the placement of a new gate near the Lost Lake trail junction. Drainages were improved and sections were derooted. I helped dig up rocks and mineral soil to build a durable landing with a retaining rock wall at the bottom of a new staircase. Despite the ongoing work, hikers are already using the trail--we saw several during the work party. When it was time to wrap up, we carried out tools that had been brought in the day before. I was nearly run over by a BMX biker on the way out (the trail is NOT officially open yet--watch out for the work parties!). We enjoyed pumpkin pie, hot cider, and other holiday treats, not to mention clear views from the overlook to Bellingham Bay and even Vancouver, BC.

Yet another work party on the new Rock Trail to Lost Lake. The trail is taking shape and now extends 0.9 miles from the Cyrus Gates Overlook trailhead. More than 100 stairs have been installed to date to facilitate the 700-foot elevation drop from the overlook to the lake. The trail descends through lush deciduous forest alongside giant boulders and massive rock faces. The architect of this new pathway, aka the Lost Antler Trail (how about the Lost Hiker Trail?) is Arlen "Trailblazer" Bogards, intrepid goat wrangler, wilderness man, and WTA Crew Leader. In addition to Arlen, our ACLs today were Tomoe and Terry. We arrived at the overlook and began with the safety lecture. I demurely accepted my overdue personalized hardhat, and we began our descent along the new trail. As the trail has progressed, the outbound trek has become noticeably longer. 0.87 miles from the TH, we surveyed the terminus of current progress. Our efforts went into derooting and regrading a recently built trail section and advancing the trail downhill with a series of switchbacks. I put my efforts into clearing vegetation and organic soil, derooting, moving rocks, and grading a short but steep switchback. My final efforts went into shoveling sand from under a boulder to be used as tread for a depressed trail section. Near the end of the day, we ventured downhill to a ridge, where glimpses of the lake were in view. We saw one banana slug and many black slugs, as well as an army of caterpillars that kept crawling onto us. Bleeding heart, candy flower, and buttercup are in bloom. When we returned, we could see to Vancouver from the overlook, while we enjoyed cold drinks and cookies. Disappointing trivia fact of the day: this was my first work party without the presence of Jon Nishimura.

This outing was a WTA work party to continue construction of the new Rock Trail to Lost Lake. We arrived at the Cyrus Gates Overlook in Larrabee State Park to a welcoming committee of mosquitoes and flies. This welcoming committee had been present in previous days, prompting a few members of the work party to bring mosquito netting to the occasion. Our day was partly sunny, and it remained that way. Our crew leader was Kathy, with ACLs Tomoe and Mike. We hiked down from the overlook along the new trail, which is taking shape nicely. We hiked about 1/2 mile to a section in-progress. About half of the work party cleared organic material and hewed new trail. The rest of us graded trail, removed roots, scraped away organic soil, and moved a large rock or two. After the work was over, we cached some tools, carried the remainder back to the overlook, and enjoyed drinks and cookies. Slugs, snails, and millipedes were out. Wildflowers, in particular bleeding heart, were in bloom. Spring is taking hold in the Chuckanuts.

This was a work party to continue construction of a new trail to Lost Lake. The trail will start at the Cyrus Gates Overlook, at the top of Cleator Road, in Larrabee State Park. It will skirt several rock faces on its downhill route to Lost Lake; proposed names include the Rock Trail and the Lost Antler Trail. We'll see which hiking constituency wins the naming game.... The day started with the safety lecture and the distribution of two personalized hardhats for Pancake and Susan E. The crew leader was Arlen, with ACLs Terry and Marty. Our plan was to improve or make trail surface and move some rocks. The work started right away with a steep downhill approach to the work area. Prior to the construction of the trail, this was a challenging downhill/uphill bushwhack. Stairs are now installed on the steepest sections. Conditions were muddy, so it was no picnic getting out, especially with 2 tools to each person. Rope came in handy! Views of Bellingham and Samish Bays opened up in places, and we enjoyed the sheer rock walls as we approached the worksite. Three stretches of developing trail were the foci of our efforts. One group built new trail next to the rock wall. The second group moved some boulders and worked as stone masons on a switchback section. The third group, which I worked with, removed organic material from and derooted a developing trail section near a ridgeline. I spent my day grubbing and shoveling, with some chopping towards the end. We had sunshine most of the day, but we encountered a pelting with 1-2 mm size hail during lunchtime. At the end, we enjoyed cookies and cider, as usual, as we looked out over Bellingham Bay.