Starting internship

So I've been walking, but haven't actually been prepping anything for here. I've been using the Zombies, Run! app a lot, and fleeing from zombies doesn't combine well with photography. Also, I'm preparing for my internship which starts on Sunday! Super excited and nervous! I have to brush up on some basics and get my internship wardrobe in order, as well as turn in my application for graduation and deal with some other school stuffs. So exciting!

I did spend some time trying to chart a local park that has very few decent maps of it (that link is the best I've found so far). The city doesn't have any maps of its trail system. I tried to make a loop that I thought existed, but I couldn't find the right paths. I swear it used to exist though. Once I get a decent map of it, I hope to post it here.

I'll get some new content for next week, so stay tuned!

Dead Week

Hello. I didn't make a post on Thursday and I won't have one this Thursday because it is Dead Week and I have a major project to get done. It is my last classroom quarter for the program I'm in! After this, it's just internships and then graduation! And then a national board exam. And then I have to move and find a job and get licensed in whatever state that happens to be. And then continuing education to maintain my license. It's...it's never really gonna end. But hey, getting closer to graduation! Let's just focus on that for now!

I am still doing weekly walks and hope to get a legit winter hike or two in over break, weather permitting.

Here's a picture from my last walk of my dog looking simply regal:

So regal looking. Just ignore the rock graffiti...

Be back again on the 10th!

Dead Week

What, it's finals week again? Already? I'll have a nice Whidbey Island hike guide next week, I promise!

Until then, consider supporting my pup on his quest to raise money for the Washington Trails Association!

You can't say no to this face

A Lazy "Hike" - Whatcom Falls Park

What can I say? I'm swamped! Hopefully I'll have something more substantial next week. Until then, it's another urban "hike" in Whatcom Falls Park.

Whatcom Falls Park has a lot of trail, and you can mix and match paths to create dozens of different routes. This one is a bit over a mile and a half and takes you down a quiet corner of the park that I wanted to share.

Whatcom Falls Park

Bellingham Parks & Rec

Parking Permit: none needed

Distance: 1.65 mi

Elevation gain: minimal

I parked in the lower lot down Silver Beach Road. You can start by hiking to the stone bridge by the falls; just follow the sound of the water.

Unfortunately, recent drought conditions have left the falls a bit less than impressive...

Behold!

 I think this was the lowest I've ever seen the falls flow!

Continue on the main trail to the right. There are a few smaller falls that right now are just trickles of water. Lots of kids were swimming by them. A year or two ago, a guy drowned when he went over one of the small falls and the current pulled him and pinned him under. They always stress that swimming is dangerous in the creek. Right now there isn't much current to worry about though, just low water levels.

A set of stairs provide the only elevation you have to worry about.

At the top you'll hang a right on Whatcom Creek Trail. If you're here in the morning, keep an eye on the canopy, especially the knotty-looking fir at the next trail junction. There's a resident pair of owls that like to observe walkers around here.

Eventually you'll reach a funky 5-way junction. The shallow-right that's blocked off with a large rock leads to a somewhat interesting overlook, and the leftmost path is the continuation of the main trail.

Here's the overlook. The rock blocking the path is to prevent wayward cyclists from speeding too quickly this way, as it comes to an abrupt end.

Back in the day, there was a mill at what is now Bloedel Donovan Park. Timber was harvested from the hills around the lake, floated to the mill, processed, and then taken by rail to the waterfront via these tracks.

Eventually you'll reach a big junction. Left takes you on Railroad Trail which follows the aforementioned tracks. You can take it to Alabama Hill, down to Barkley Village, and through town all the way out to Memorial Park if you are ambitious enough. Most people walking will turn right to start looping back toward the parking lot. I go straight and follow the sign to Scudder Pond though for a quieter, less-traveled loop.

Pup sniffing the trail marker and considering making his own trail marker.

Head down until you see an unsigned-but-official looking trail to the right. If you can see the pond, you passed it (though you're still on a nice walk).

The trail will narrow and close in a bit, but there are few people that wander this way.

The baseboards of this little lookout are often underwater. It has been dry lately. The lake is at levels normally not seen until September; the heat has been evaporating the water that quickly.

There's a house on the pond with a stone chimney-looking thing; it's actually a bell tower and I want a house with a bell tower so bad -- this is an actual thing this house has!

White house has a bell tower!

 There are a lot of blackberries in the park, but it's so busy they're usually picked clean. The Scudder Pond Loop often has plenty, though!

You only actually get small glimpses of the pond. Most of the brush is packed in around you. It gives you shade and quiet, though.

You can also get a close look at the dam that maintains Lake Whatcom's water level and the flow through Whatcom Creek.

Back at the main trail, take a left on Railroad Trail and go across the bridge to take you back across the creek.

You can get another view of the dam, too.

Left takes you to Bloedel Donovan Park. There isn't much for trails there; it has a playground, swimming area, and boat launch. I go right instead to go back to the parking lot.

You'll past the other end of the train trestle.

The creek will slow and widen and become Derby Pond. It's a nice place to fish for kids. It's also good for feeding the ducks, though it was so hot out that only a couple were out.

The trail merges with a paved road. Going left will take you uphill to the upper parking lot off Electric Ave, which is an alternative starting point. Right leads you back to the lower lot.

There are some private residences here inside the park; I am not sure how they get their vehicles in and out since the road is blocked with locked barriers to non-park vehicles. Conceivably though, you could live here. I'm not sure why you'd want to, but you could.

There's also a fish hatchery that raises varieties of trout and other freshwater fish just off the parking lot.

I don't know what happened to this tank, but there were a lot of dead fish floating around in there....

They were just practicing their backstroke?

Fortunately the other tanks that had fish in them seemed to be in better shape.

And that's it. I'm busy with internships. I'll get around to a real hike sometime. But until my schedule opens up, this is what you get to deal with.

Dead Week

It's finals for me this coming weekend, so I'm taking some time off to study. There will be hiking pictures from Bagley Lake next week!

Dead Week

I have finals this week so no hiking or much of anything. The good news is hopefully there will be hiking over spring break. Things are planned anyway.

In the mean time here is a picture of one of our rats. Her name is Thelma and she bites.

The look of a cold-blooded killer.

That is all.