Oyster Dome

I led a hike today, an official Mountaineers hike. My first, really. Last year, I agreed to lead one, but the two people who signed up canceled the day before. I led a couple other unofficial hikes last year, but only a couple people turned up. This time, I had eleven people with me (and two on the wait list, since we have a max size of 12). I jazzed up the hike description a bit, so it sold better. That and it was an easier hike than last year's.

Anyway, ... Oyster Dome is just off I-5 between Burlington and Bellingham. It's part of Blanchard Mountain/Hill, a massif with a couple knobs and lakes on top and a hang-gliding takeoff on the southwest.

At first, everything was going fine. We all met up and despite a wrong turn or two (and a cellphone call or two), everybody made it to the trailhead. It wasn't, however, the trailhead that I was planning on going to. That one was two miles beyond a locked gate. So the hike got longer and with more elevation gain. (From 6 miles, 900' to 8 miles, 1200' (from easy-moderate to moderate).) The hike was intended for beginners who just finished taking the Basic Wilderness Travel course. For one woman, this was her first hike EVER. I spent a lot of time with her, far behind everybody else.

It would have been good if there was an experienced hiker at the front of the group who had a map and knew where we were going and knew what trail junctions looked like and knew when we should be going uphill and when we should be going downhill. It wasn't until we were on the way back, actually, that the lead group, who I shall name Trouble, started going astray. Sure, they didn't stop at the last junction on the way to the lookout, but at least they turned the right way (they saw the sign).

Here's a few pictures:











I've got more people-shots at Flickr, if you want. That last one is an inch-and-a-half-tall guy that managed to hitch a ride up the hill in somebody's boot! He fell behind the boot's tongue while she was in the guy's owner's car.

On the way back, Trouble managed to miss a turn-off and the good kids followed them blindly (even though one of them apparently asked, "Isn't that a trail?" as they passed the correct turn-off). Luckily they were going up a dead-end on that one. I had them trapped. Later, though, Trouble went straight at a switchback. But that hill has a lot of underbrushless terrain, so they were able to meet up with the trail a little ways down the hill ("We weren't the first people to go that way!") before I got there. A couple more junctions that Trouble blew past (but went the right way), and we were finally back at the cars. Six hours on the trail (including a 30 min lunchbreak for me and first-timer).

Great weather, great hike, even if I didn't get to talk much to ten of them. First-timer said she'll stick to Easy hikes from now on.

I need to lead more hikes.