Our original plan with the Happy Hikers today was to hike to Gold Cord Lake, then to the waterfall on the rock cliff above the lake then on to the upper ridge to overlook Archangel Valley. Jo from Valley Wanderers was leading this hike. When Jo and I got to the parking lot it was pouring rain, and forecast to continue all day. We waited for the others to arrive then decided to only hike up to the lake if we could do it. The trail gets very muddy and worse when raining. We all scrapped the idea of going to the ridge. Ken was there with his big golden retriever, Buck and he started out leading. Bella wanted to be with Buck, so I let her off leash. Normally this trail is quite crowded so I always keep her leashed. But we were the only people there today. I ended up being the leader myself because Bella kept racing up ahead on the trail. We do this one a lot so she knows exactly where to go. Once at the lake I waited for the others. Ken and Buck kept going on the trail around the lake. I followed, figuring everyone else would also. Plus I didn't want my dog going without me. When we got to the big rock that blocks the trail, Ken headed through the complex spot I have taken before. Meanwhile a couple of the other ladies passed me and started hiking a higher cross country route. That seemed to be just getting higher but not gaining much progress, so I went down and took my usual route around the rock. Ken and Buck seemed to disappear, and I rejoined Jane and Meg who had finally reached the same trail I was on. It turned out that Buck couldn't get through the rocks so Ken had turned back. I stayed with Meg and Jane and realized the rest of our group of 14 were not behind us. We kept angeling higher up through the boulders and tundra, still in pouring rain until we reached the waterfall that was nothing but a thin trickle pouring down the rock cliff face. None of the 3 of us had any desire to continue on up to the ridge, knowing we would not have had any view even if we did make it all the way up there. So we headed back down to a trail closer to the lake and made our way back. We took a little side trip to the cute rock bridge on a private side trail towards Dan's house. I had never seen it before and it was really a nice feature over the creek that comes down through the valley. We reunited with the rest of the group once back to the parking lot. Then we went to lunch at Hatcher Pass Lodge. It's still pouring rain!
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| The Happy Hikers. I'm in blue with Bella on her leash |
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| Dan's Rock Bridge |
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| Gold Cord Lake from the waterfall |
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| The rock face with the waterfall that's hard to see |
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| Bella wondering why we are out there in the pouring rain |
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| Gold Cord Lake shore |
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