38 Miles, 6 Hours, 1 National Forest

Because my daily schedule requires lots of indoor time, it's important to get out into nature as much as possible. Sometimes I don't have enough time off to do an overnight trip or return to our float cabin home, so a quick day trip has to do. Bellingham, WA, has some great places that can be reached in a short amount of time.

Last week, I headed up to the Mt. Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest for a hike. From Bellingham, I took Mt. Baker Highway without a destination in mind. My first stop was the Douglas-Fir Campground. I saw several cars parked on the other side of the highway, so I decided to check it out. Here I found the easy to moderate "Horseshoe Bend" trail along the North Fork of the Nooksack River

The well maintained trail was built by the United States Forest Service and the Whatcom County Trail Work Crew. It has several stairs, bridges and causeways to make it easy to moderate hiking. I saw a few others, but most of the time I had the forest and river all to myself. What a relaxing afternoon.

I filled my backpack with a towel and lunch makings. The trail intersects with the Nooksack River at several points. Because the water is low right now, a few spots have large boulders exposed. I pulled up a rock, used my knee as a table, and ate my open-faced crackers sandwiches to the soothing sound of the rushing water.

The trail is listed as year-round. I'll have to go back in after the leaves turn. -- Margy