The Endless Hike

Sometimes, hiking/photographing in Lord Hill Regional Park can feel endless. The trails are rather far-flung, especially compared to the city parks I usually visit, and it seems there's always another muddy hill to climb. So my trips to Lord Hill, like this morning's, are usually marked by long trudges up slippery trails. Because all this takes time, visit this park rather seldom.

Still, it's definitely a worthwhile park to visit, especially in May and June. The main trails, for the most part, aren't steep or muddy enough to be prohibitively difficult. And, importantly for me, all that excess water running around makes for very lush vegetation and very mossy trees:

The lush vegetation hasn't really come into its own yet, I found to my dismay. It probably will in a month or so, when all the random undergrowth plants grow, and when the alders, cottonwoods and maples have all leafed out. And when the grass has grown - yes, some parts of the forest here have grass, and it's still pretty small.

Thus, I had a rougher time than I expected getting good pictures. Still, some parts of the park are looking very spring-like:

Also, I finally managed to take a picture that included the inside of a salmonberry flower.

It's hard to budget the time to visit this park on a very frequent basis. You have to allow for half the day, preferably more, since it takes so long to hike in and out and a few of the trails are a bit strenuous. But it's worth it. Sometimes. And it's good for the heart...!