Tour Day Chuckanuts: Three Summits, Six Lakes

The Chuckanuts may not be wilderness, but they are mountainous, wild, and just outside my door. Wednesday I rode a good chunk of them on a pretty good 9 1/2 hour tour on an absolutely perfect summer day.

Riding from home on the south side of Bellingham, we headed to the Chuckanuts on the Interurban Trail, turning left to ascend through Arroyo Park. A new set of switchbacks on the lower part enabled my first clean ascent of the connector to the Hemlock Trail. The first 'summit' was the intersection of Hemlock and Pine and Cedar Trails, 1400' and 3.8 miles from Arroyo Park, followed shortly by the lakes themselves, the first of six lakes on the tour. When I don't have all day, a quick left at the intersection to descend Pine and Cedar Trail to Old Samish Way and back to Arroyo makes a great 75 - 90 minute tour and workout.

But we did have all day, taking a rather faint right just before the main trail descends to Cedar Lake. This connector was a bit overgrown, as it is a little used link to the road system around Mud Lake (the third lake - note the name, however). The Chuckanut Recreation Area map from Square One Maps is crucial for navigating this section.

These maps are excellent, up to date, and printed on durable paper. If you're too cheap to buy one, stay on the road you connect to from Pine and Cedar Lakes, go down the big hill, ignore any trails, pass the first spur on the right, go straight at the next intersection, go right at the T, ignore the next spur on your left but take the following left and follow it out of the open bottom land and into the woods, then turn right up the hill to the white blazes of the Pacific Northwest Trail (PNT) and straight through the next intersection to the British Army trail. From the Pine and Cedar Lake Trail junction to the British Army Trail is 6.7 miles.

I'd buy the map.

The British Army Trail (BAT) climbs steeply, then cruises past Lizard to Lilly lake through soft and friendly woods that made me want to stay and camp (except for the bugs). We choose to take a side trip at the end of Lilly to the Oyster Dome, coming surprisingly close to riding to the top. I did made it back down on the bike, except for a little handlebar pinball incident that landed me on my butt with my leg stuck between the handlebars and the frame. From the Mud Lake valley to the top of the dome was 1450' of climbing and 4.5 miles from where we joined the BAT.

Skagit Flats from Samish Overlook

If the bugs were thick (they weren't) our teeth would have been black from grinning so much riding down the dome, back to Lilly, out Max's Shortcut to the hanglider launch and Samish Overlook, and then down the Samish Bay Trail (part of the PNT) to Chuckanut Drive. OMG: 5.1 miles and 2100' of s**t eating grins. (Watch for hikers and horses- it was getting on to evening and we saw no one, but slowed for any sections without clear sight lines).

I was dreading the road, but traffic was light and I soon realized riding one of the most scenic pieces of pavement I know of in the early evening sun was awesome. We rounded the hairpin by Oyster Creek Inn just as MUST FIND FOOD simultaneously took over any other thoughts or desires. Noshing on fancy appetizers in sweaty bike clothes at the Inn and then riding up hill did not appeal. Fortunately Taylor Shellfish was open to 6, so we cruised down, scored some smoked oysters and a tube of Ritz Crackers, and fueled up on the oyster beach.

5 miles of Chuckanut Drive beauty brought us to the Fragrance Lake road at the south end of Larabee State park, which we climbed to the Lost Lake trail, cresting Chuckanut Ridge after a delightfut (really!) 1380' climb. Another ripping downhill took us past Lost Lake (the sixth lake if you've been keeping score) and our final treat, the outlaw trail formerly known as Hush Hush now officially designated as the Salal Trail.

This 1.5 mile delightful and technical 500' descent deserves its own post, so suffice it to say it is worth riding. The double track at the end dumped us back onto the Hemlock trail and then the trail head at Arroyo - 35 miles of riding, 4230' of climbing (not counting ups and downs on individual trails), three summits, six lakes, and 9 1/2 hours of delight!

Thanks to the Bellingham and Whatcom County Parks and Rec, the DNR, and Larabee State Park for trail maintenance and access to such splendor from my doorstep.