What a quiet night. I woke up to a light drizzle. Rain wasn't forecasted until late in the morning. Bummer. But then it stopped and I took the risk of hiking the Excelsior Pass trail, a steep 9-mile r/t hike. I had no idea how far I'd make it before the rain came in, but I kept going. The higher up we hiked, the faster I hiked. We were so close to the pass, about a half-mile, before the icy snow cover, drizzle and deep fog made me turn around at 10am. It was a wise decision, as the rain started coming down steadily 30 minutes later and we arrived back at the trail head at 11:36am. We hiked 7.74 miles, and the pass would have been nine miles r/t. So close! But part of the hike would have been the views and it was too foggy and wet by the time we made it to 5000' from a start elevation of 1200'.
There were three more cars in the parking lot when there were none when we started. Minnie barked at a young dad and his young son as they started up as we were coming down. The dad gave me a snear and I don't blame him. I hate it when Minnie barks at people; she's been doing that a lot on this trip.
I sat in the van for an hour just to warm up. I had carried my rain gear but never put it on and let myself get damp and cold. The dogs were enjoying the break. They ate their lunch but only the canned stuff. I ate a slice of cold pizza but never warmed up until I got into Bellingham at 4pm. What a lovely coastal town! I walked the dogs briefly around the Whatcom Creek trail so they could drink some water, then I sat inside a Wood's coffeeshop in old town just to write this and download photos to my Facebook page.
More later
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