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Trip Report    

CHS 2 Hike - Chuckanut Ridge & Mountain

This loop hike offers a diversity of terrain, environments, and views.

SuJ'n Chon SuJ'n Chon
June 05, 2017
  • Road suitable for all vehicles

  • The trail systems through Arroya Park, Whatcom County Parks, and Larrabee State Park are nicely maintained. No water crossings. A spare few muddy spots. Some of the boulders on the Chucknut Ridge trail would not be fun to descend during wet weather but there are roots and "steps" to help. Poles were also helpful.

We started from the North Chuckanut Mountain trailhead around 9:10 AM. We almost immediately ran into runners. Turns out they were using the trails for a half- and full-marathon trail race. There weren't too many runners so sharing the trails did not impact the trip too much; in fact, it was kind of fun seeing the runners.

We started off, after a false start, going to Chuckanut Falls - which is an easy but sufficiently lovely little side trip. We then took the Lost Lake trail to Lost Lake (meh), Rock trail (a lot of stairs!) to Cyrus Gates Overlook (beautiful!), and then the Ridge trail (bumpy) back to the Lost Lake trail junction, and back to the cars. The diversity of scenery and tread kept the hike interesting.

It was a slightly cool, slightly warm, pretty muggy day; it was one of those days where it was hard to figure out exactly how to adjust clothing for the weather. But we had high clouds and no rain, leading to great visibility considering an overcast day. The sun came out, as we predicted, about 15 minutes before we reached the cars.

We stopped at The Filling Station in Fairhaven, Bellingham after the hike and enjoyed fantastic post-hike grub and libations. Great group!

Stats: 13.5 mi; 2,360 ft t.e.g.; 5:25 moving; 6:30 hrs total.