- George Mustoe (WWU Geology Department) visited the famous Chuckanut fossils in the Racehorse Fossil Beds a few days ago. He sends a report on trail access. (If you aren’t familiar with this place up the Nooksack east of Bellingham, this is the site of the 2009 landslide that exposed the 11-inch-wide foot prints of the 300 pound, 7-foot-tall flightless bird Diatryma, and a host of other animal tracks and plant fossils from the 55-million-year-old Chuckanut Formation. Directions follow George’s trail report. There are many reports on this website about the fossils and the landslide.
- Denny Creek Trail 1014 (fs.usda.gov)
Start hiking in an old-growth forest, cross a bridge over Denny Creek, pass under the I-90 westbound bridge and enter the Alpine Lakes Wilderness. In a mile you’ll hike back across Denny Creek, but without a bridge. Be prepared to turn around here during high water from spring snowmelt. Later in the year large slabs of exposed bedrock next to Denny Creek make this a popular picnic site.