The calendar my still say it’s summer, but it’s definitely looking (and feeling) a lot more like fall lately! The leaves are just beginning to turn, mushrooms are popping up all over, and happiest of all rain has returned. Over the course of the week, it rained more often than not, and after another hot, dry summer, I’m happy for the change. We started the week off with one last day at my parents cabin, spending a leisurely morning enjoying the peace before packing up to head home. Once we got home, it was another short but very busy work week (it’s going to be tough going back to a full 5 days!). After sleeping in Saturday morning, I made my way to Evans Creek Preserve to see if hints of fall were beginning to creep in. I went armed with a warm hat, mittens, and a new fall playlist to listen to while I walked. Much to my surprise, I still saw many signs of summer around the preserve, including a few lingering lupine blooms! In a few places though, fall was definitely making its presence known.

Sunday morning there was no sleeping in, with an early start and a long drive to Mt Baker for the September Alpine Trails Book Club hike. On the drive north, the weather was conflicted, varying from sunshine to pouring rain, but heading east toward Baker and Shuksan, it turned more decisively toward rain. For our hike on the last weekend of summer, we had some extremely un-summery weather, but even in the frigid and damp conditions, our group had an absolutely fantastic time. You can expect to see more about that hike soon!