Two women on horses & a girl with her dog...

were the only people we saw last Thursday when we hiked to Raptor Ridge on the Pine & Cedar trail in Whatcom County. This trail head is just a short drive from our house. Although we heard traffic from I-5 for the first 20-30 minutes, when we got to the other side of the mountain, there was just quiet and solitude and the few humans we saw. When we reached the ridge, there were no spectacular views of the mountains or water, but there was an abundance of forest evergreens and it was sure pretty. We shared a cookie and ate some clementines and enjoyed the "silence" immensely.

Our hiking will be a little curtailed now that the cooler, rainy weather is upon us. It's been fun enjoying these trails the last few months and we can't wait to start up again next year. In the meantime, we will take advantage of nice days when they come and walk in our local parks.

One important thing we will do in the future, though, is let Steve know when we hike in a remote area. The more we thought about it, the crazier it seemed that we never told anybody when we took these hikes. If we had gotten hurt, nobody would know, and, if on a remote trail, it might be a long time before someone came along. With no cell phone service, it sure would be scary. As the saying goes, "it's better to be safe than sorry"!