USA | Hiking Up Big Rock, Mt. Vernon

Finals is over!!! Now that I have so much free time on my hands, I should really blog more often. I know my USA stories are quite stale, but just bear with me...it will soon be over. (Actually, no. I'll never get over my USA stories).

This blog post brings me back to my first-hike-in-a-long-time at Big Rock, Mt. Vernon, WA. It was a spontaneous last minute decision on my part as I'm quite a reluctant to hiker (don't really enjoy hiking because of the sticky sweat feeling and dirt on my shoes), but I went anyway as a protective figure...or so I thought.

Protective figure, you say? Here's a silly little internal debate I had in making the decision.

So I wasn't too keen on having Song go on the hike with her classmate on her own for well, safety reasons especially since she had a torn ligament in her knee. To be honest, I don't even know why she agreed to go on the hike, nor why would her friend even ask her to go on a hike, being well aware of her condition. Anyway, with my vivid imagination and brain that likes cooking up scenarios, I decided to tag along (as if I'd be of any help even if something bad were to happen, right?).

PS: Ricky, if you're reading this, no offence! It's not you, it's me lol I had my suspicious mode turned on, after all, I was in a foreign land. Just basic survival instincts.

Big Rock is about a 30-minute drive from Bellingham (WWU campus, specifically). Thanks to Ricky, we got there by car rather than an hour of bus rides. We made a stop by his house to pick up Artemis and we're off to the hike!

with Artemis

I found it weird that there wasn't a legit car park, so we parked by the roadside and...just started our hike. Not sure if people generally do that, but that's what we did.

The hike was a short one, about 20 minutes one-way. For the non-hiker that I am, it was a good baby-step except for a certain part of the course that was a tad bit challenging - almost 90° steepness! Oh, Lord. I felt like a mountain goat!

Getting my hands and shoes dirty was inevitable, but it's all good! It didn't annoy me since I didn't sweat - the air was chilly and fresh.

The view from the peak was so calming. It wasn't a very high hill...or mountain (not sure what Big Rock really is), still we could see far and it sure felt good for my eyes. It's like all the tension in my eyes from hours spent glued to my laptop was released and refreshed.

random plant

view from below

view from the peak

Albeit a super short hike, my takeaway from it was getting some workout in that morning, challenging myself to just take a hike, and breathing the fresh air. Man, I really miss the fresh air of Washington. I can smell the oxygen just at the thought of it #bs