100 & Still Going Strong!

It is written - 100 miles done!

No, the title of this post does not refer to our age - although sometimes it feels that way.  Instead, it refers to our reaching the 100 mile mark for hiking this year during our hike of the Lower Table Rock trail on Sunday.  Our best yearly total to date was last year at 169 miles, so we are well on our way to breaking that record.



Sunday turned out to be the perfect day for hiking Lower Table Rock as the on and off rain over the last couple of days had stopped.  Today we had sunny skies with a few puffy white clouds and temperatures in the low 70's - beautiful.  We got on the trail around 9:00 am and were joined by Glenn's sister Karen who had never hiked either Table Rock trail.

Our view at the top

Not surprisingly the parking lot already had a dozen or so cars when we arrived, as both Table Rock trails are popular with hikers and runners (yes, people do run up to the top).  It didn't take long for us to warm up on the trail with the steady uphill climb, but we were treated to various wildflowers still in bloom along the path.  They included White Yarrow, Farewell To Spring, Henderson's Stars, Yellow Monkey Flowers, Fool's Onion, Deerbrush, Ookow, Death Camas, Sea Blush and Fiddleneck to name a few.

White clouds, blue sky - beautiful!

After about an hour we reached the flat summit of Lower Table Rock and took the 1-mile hike to the viewpoint at the far end.  Although the vernal pools were all dried up, the large white clouds against the blue sky and various wildflowers at the top provided more than enough beauty.  We also enjoyed a nice breeze hiking across the Table Rock. When we arrived at the viewpoint we took time to enjoy the view of the valley, watch some turkey vultures go by (I don't think they were circling us), celebrate our 100 miles of hiking and commemorate Karen's first Table Rock summit with an "I made it" picture.

Karen's "I made it" picture

There was nothing unusual about our hike back down - it was downhill.  The parking lot though was almost full as more folks had arrived to enjoy this short  yet beautiful hike. So we packed up our hiking gear and made one more parking space available.  Maybe it's still available for you?  Give this hike a try before the summer heat arrives and the flowers are gone.  You won't be disappointed with the view from the summit.



Trekking Together
Glenn & Carol

The Table Rock Trekkers - Carol & Glenn