I'm 65 and have a degenerative oblique tear through my entire meniscus and lower back arthritis as well. So, for me, this hike was level 'strenuous' trail, and despite pain meds, resulted in knee pain on the way back and overall pain that night and the next day. Still, it was worth the effort as it was gorgeous!
The first mile through the forest is steadily uphill and temps overall were in the high 80s. I wished I had a sweat band for my head as sweat was pouring off my temples and forehead like a constantly running faucet and my face was beet red! This pretty much washed off both all facial bug repellant and sunscreen in no time.This first forested mile was thick with bugs but fortunately none of them were biting, just swarming and landing if you stop especially. [I did use Swift's mosquito proof spray on , my hat and clothing prior to trip and also some spray on bare arms before hike.
I was excited to see some mushrooms along the way and some beautiful magenta flowers with yellow centers in the middle of a small stream beside rocks. [possibly penstemons}
There were also several varieties of sedges and other plants of interest that I don't normally see.
The road on the way up really tested our Rav 4 Toyota suspension. I totally would not have driven my Hyundai Accent up the very uneven, potholed, rough road with washed out areas.
There are lovely turnouts on the way up to the trailhead with magnificent views of Mt. Baker and other peaks, along with plenty of beautiful purple pink fireweed wildflowers along the way.
It appeared that someone sprayed plants all along the trail with a shiny substance such as a pesticide or herbicide. I would not recommend eating any blueberries from bushes where leaves are shiny. If someone did spray stuff they should have put a notice at the trailhead.
Once out of the forest when you come to the boardwalk at the beginning of the meadow area there are a lot of delicious, low lying unsprayed blueberries.
The plant communities in the meadow are varied and the color contrasts are delightful. I looked up and could see 'sawtooth' mountain peaks and rocky crags on , my left and Mt Baker and other glorious mountains behind me with evergreens in the foreground.
We walked to the end of the first meadow and came to another forested area with a downhill grade. Since my knee was beginning to hurt we decided to turn around.
Fortunately, the open meadow wasn't too hard with its up and down path and the mile through the forest was a constant downhill grade the entire time wasn't steep, so that made it thankfully , much easier on the hike back to our car.