Hiking Thunder Knob Trail
a rainy jaunt in the North Cascades
Tucked in the North Cascades is little Thunder Knob Trail. It’s a gradual three and a half mile out-and-back route ending with a gorgeous view of Diablo Lake. We were staying up in Bellingham last weekend for the Sun Worship Festival, and had an afternoon to kill before festivities began on Friday. A day hike in the fresh mountain air seemed like the perfect way to have a little quiet time in nature.
Sometimes I forget I live only a couple hours away from a National Park. As I wrote in a previous post, I’ve been leaning into a refreshed gratitude for the beauty of Washington. Maybe it’s just the older I get and the stronger my desire to travel and move away is, that’s causing me to appreciate my home state.
Considering it was midday on Friday, traffic getting there and back to Bellingham was a breeze. There is a bit of a trek through a campground at the base along a stream in order to reach the trailhead. The terrain for most of the way up was slightly rocky, but quite soft and even a little sandy in some parts which made it easy on the knees and ankles. The day was damp and fragrant with the rich smells of dirt and pine and fresh running water. And oh my that green mountain water!
Any Washingtonian knows that iconic blue-green Lake Diablo— even more vibrant on a cloudy day like this one. It drizzled here and there on the way up, and the air was humid and sticky (my body had a hard time deciding if it was too hot or too cold). Coming up to the top clearing offers some awesome resting places for a sit down lunch, considering much of it is flat rock slabs. There were pretty high winds up at the viewpoint, and then it proceeded to rain on us all the way back down— though it was refreshing. I like the high humidity the summertime brings around here. It makes my hair curly and my skin glowy. And while hiking through the rain isn’t always a great feeling, it does feel amazing to not let it get in your way of spending time outdoors.
It was the perfect little jaunt to get our senses awake and soak up some fresh air before a festival weekend!
I paired my trusty Patagonia Baggies with a Free People fleece and garage sale Merrells on my feet and called it good for this trail!
My little Kodak Half Frame managed to stay in my daypack the whole time, since I was nervous to get it wet. But it was loaded with some good ol’ Portra 400, all ready to go.