Lost Antler Trail (WA)

Dad-in-law admiring scenery on the new trail.

Just as I was relocating to a new job in DC in January 2011, the manager at Larrabee State Park near Bellingham gave me the green light to begin building a new foot trail in the Chuckanut Range.  It would be a short, scenic connector from the Cyrus Gates Overlook to Lost Lake that had been in the long-term plan for over 15 years.  It passed below dramatic sandstone cliffs and also created two new loop hikes in a very pretty and pretty popular area.  After such a big effort to the get the thing approved, I decided to stick it out and build a little here and a little there every time I happened to return to Bellingham.  A number of work parties were held in 2011 and 2012 and friends have been more than generous in helping out with the project (thanks especially to the Mount Baker Club, Bellingham Mountaineers, Washington Trails Association and Chuckanut Conservancy).  Completion is expected now in the spring of 2013—not a day too soon for the park folks and others who have watched the thing unfold in slow-motion.  Amazingly, we’ve kept the new trail largely hidden, building the middle section first and saving the connections till the end.  The entire trail is less than a mile long, but involves a hundred timber steps or more and some interesting routing and design challenges to say the least.  In any event, here are a few images, with more to follow soon.