Beautiful night on a run to burnout and back. 

Posting because someone had left phone and keys at the trailhead! Was sitting on a white ford when we left but the keys were for a Toyota. 

Keys had library card and whistle!

Once again, Bellingham represented the Banana Belt as far as hiking today, so Larrabee it was! We'd never done the Rock Trail and I was curious. Wow! It did not disappoint.

Approaching from the South Lost Lake trail, we hung a right at what is currently an unmarked, but obviously main, trail (the sign was there a few months ago, so not sure where it vanished to). You gain a considerable amount of elevation on the mile-or-so stretch, much of which happens via stairs. Maybe a thousand feet? The two notables are 1) that the trail is so well-maintained and nicely designed, with the staircases in fine condition and the passage through the rock "garden" so thoughtfully made, and 2) the "rocks" themselves (erratics galore and humongous sandstone cliffy areas). I have never seen so many erratics in one place. Pics don't capture the landscape. If you're a geologist, artist, or nature nut, it's a pretty remarkable trail.

The ten thousand stairs (well, actually about 200) make for a little lung expansion, but I tend to enjoy these things. I was pretty sure the trail topped out at the head of Cleator Road, but didn't know for sure. So, once we reached a sign whose only options were either taking the Double Diamond bike trail down to Fragrance Lake Road, heading back down the way we came, OR taking our chances on an unsigned mystery destination, we opted for the Double Diamond. That got us down to the Fragrance Lake Road and two miles from the parking lot in purportedly .7 miles, BUT--Holy Mother of G-d, it was steep. Thankfully, no demon bikers were blasting down the trail at the time. In fact, I spent most of that section wondering what kind of Evil Knievel folk would brave the thing. Anyway, it got us down in short order. There were some nice views, if one dared to look up from the precipitous descent, of the islands, as well as some pretty old second growth Doug firs along the way. Wildflowers are out! We saw trillium, bleeding hearts, montia (candy flowers), and salmon berry blossoms.

Upshot: great conditioner hike, cool rock formations, nice island/Samish Bay views from the South Lost Lake portion, wildflowers are out.

Our route: Lost Lake parking area>Fragrance Lake Road> South Lost Lake trail> Rock Trail> Double Diamond trail> Fragrance lake road back to parking lot.

RT was 8.1 miles according to park signage. We did not use poles, though one might consider it, especially going down the Double Diamond! Happy and safe hiking, Everyone!

It was my first time in the Chuckanut Mountains, so I decided to make a nice, big loop. Started at the Cyrus Gates Overlook trailhead at around 9:30. Was the first car in the lot. There were a couple inches of snow on the road near the top, but the gates were all open and my 4WD had no issue getting up. Sunny day with clouds covering the higher peaks, so nice views of the nearby islands and mountains, but not much beyond that. Spotted the towers of Vancouver in the distance though.

Began by winding around to Lost Lake. I went all the way down to the water level and continued along the edge to the Lost Lake waterfalls on the east side of the lake. This was actually a really neat spot. It's interesting that a lake with such an oblong shape drains from the broad side, rather than one of the ends. The creek flows quickly and shallowly over hard rock before dropping over a much larger cliff than I had expected. I'd strongly recommend checking it out for yourself.

I then headed north, stopping at Raptor Ridge overlook for a snack and some brief sunbathing, before continuing east to Cedar Lake. Cedar Lake was still partially frozen, unlike Lost Lake. Backtracked to the Hemlock trail and headed toward the Chuckanut Ridge trail to take me back up to the trailhead. Taking the Hemlock trail meant a lot of downhill before heading back up which never feels great. Probably should have just backtracked more along Raptor Ridge trail to North Lost Lake trail as there wasn't much to see along the Hemlock and Salal trails anyway.

Made it back to the car by 3:30. Felt longer than I expected (Google Maps says it was about 11.5 miles), but I enjoyed the trip greatly. Hardly any snow on the actual hiking trail, even though the road was covered. Only passed a handful of other walkers, joggers, and cyclists. Highlights were the Lost Lake falls and the general solitude.

Mostly just a trip report to let people know the gate is closed down by the Fragrance Lake TH! I imagine it’ll reopen once all the snow is gone on the higher section of forest road. Walked up the road to the Cyrus Gates Overlook and back today.

I did this loop as a trail run connecting Fragrance Lake Road, Double Black Diamond, Rock Trail, Ridge Trail, North Lost Lake Trail, and South Lost Lake Trail.

Starting from the Lost Lake Parking Lot the entire loop was around 13 miles. All of the trails are in good condition at the moment. There are a couple of small blowdowns along the ridge trail above lost lake, but all were easy to navigate.

Doing it as a trail run there was a few technical areas on the ridge trail but for most hikers they should be easily passable.