This hike is a workout!!! Do not attempt if extremely out of shape, drank to much the night before, or have bad knees, for this hike is sure to test your endurance. The parking is just off on Old Samish Road. This hike begins with a strenous climb of 1,300 feet in 1.6 miles to the junction with Hemlock Trail. Continue 0.2 miles to a junction with a spur trail to Cedar Lake. The spur loops around the lake and connects to a 0.5 mile side trail which climbs 250 feet to viewpoints of Mount Baker and the San Juan Islands. The main trail continues 0.3 more miles to Pine Lake. Once we reached the top to the lakes it was a relief!! to say the least and nice to rest and catch our breath at the top. Weve done this hike a few times and gone to both pine and cedar lake. As steep as this hike is on the way up it feels even steeper on the way down and not to be attempted for those with bad knees cause its a killer!
During our hikes while talking with fellow hikers we learned of the owl that lives on this trail that on more than one occasion has came out and spooked some hikers, while we didnt see any owls we did spot some trillium (a flower) which we had never known about before but learned from a fellow hiker that it was a protected plant which we didn't know why so we had to wikipedia it and found out that....
" Typical species are Trillium grandiflorum (Large-flowered Trillium) in eastern North America and Trillium ovatum (Western Trillium). Both have white flowers that turn pink as they age.
Picking a trillium seriously injures the plant by preventing the leaf-like bracts from producing food for the next year. A plant takes many years to recover. For this reason in Michigan[1] and Minnesota[2] it is illegal to pick and/or transplant trilliums from public lands without a permit from the State."
During our hikes while talking with fellow hikers we learned of the owl that lives on this trail that on more than one occasion has came out and spooked some hikers, while we didnt see any owls we did spot some trillium (a flower) which we had never known about before but learned from a fellow hiker that it was a protected plant which we didn't know why so we had to wikipedia it and found out that....
" Typical species are Trillium grandiflorum (Large-flowered Trillium) in eastern North America and Trillium ovatum (Western Trillium). Both have white flowers that turn pink as they age.
Picking a trillium seriously injures the plant by preventing the leaf-like bracts from producing food for the next year. A plant takes many years to recover. For this reason in Michigan[1] and Minnesota[2] it is illegal to pick and/or transplant trilliums from public lands without a permit from the State."
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