Friday, May 25, 2018

May 25 – Mount Thom Lookout Trail

You can either climb Mount Thom from the bottom to get to the lookout trail, which means 10 km and 375 m in elevation gain, or you can drive almost all the way up and just do the lookout loop, which means about 3 km and 100 m in gain. Guess.

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An interesting stand for a trail sign.

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We thought this old stump looked like a sand castle.

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The trail was wide and smooth. From the car to the top it was a constant climb, just about at the limit of what we could do without having to occasionally stop.

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There were lots of small wildflowers out in bloom.

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The view from the top was a bit hazy today.

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Below us is the town of Sardis. Farther north is a a belt of farmland and off to the right edge is Chilliwack.

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We have to have at least one photosphere.

Looking south we could see Cultus Lake, that we could barely see on our Teapot Hill hike.

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As we walked up we could hear what I think were a large number of crows screaming at each other. I am guessing that it is mating season because at the viewpoint we could see a lot of them either fighting or flirting, it was hard to tell which was which, in the air along the cliff.

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From here the trail was all downhill. The next lookout had much the same view

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Red maple keys.

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Something sure either didn’t like or liked to eat this plant.

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Lookout 2 was a bit limited.

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We always love to see columbine. There was only one small patch.

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On some sections we were almost buried in berry bushes.

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We took a short side trail to what was supposed to be another lookout. It was not. I have no idea how it could be marked that way because the trail just stopped in the trees. There was however a small decorated tree. Tinsel and Christmas balls.

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Along this trail I think the back of my hand touched a stinging nettle. It immediately felt a bee sting. Then a bunch of bumps came up and the stinging and numbness spread out. Five hours later it is still rather annoying but it is starting to subside. 

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Always love buttercups.

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Heading back to the car.

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It had been too early to eat lunch at any of the lookouts so we drove to Vedder Park on the banks of the Chilliwack River. There is a bike path here that I think we will have to try.

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And home, making for a short day.

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