Mt. Baker

Goat Mountain	Yellow Aster Butte

Artist Point

July 5, 2003 It's the first week of July and it's my 4th trip to Baker this year... damn beer shrine and beautiful mountain. But that's not me complaining. :)

The clouds were out, but the walk up the road from the Visitor Center at Heather Meadows to Artist Point (the road will open in a couple weeks) was a good follow up to yesterday's hike at Thornton Lake. You know... work out some of the soreness. We got to see cool things like sunlights in snow fields (left) and patterns in the snow (below).

(Below) The parking lot at Artist Point was only partially plowed and was mostly covered with water. Hardly looks like a parking lot. No view here anyway... too bad we don't have the car to fog up too. :) (Left) Of course, the sun broke free as we were leaving... stupid sun. Galena Creek was busy doing its job... carrying water down to the Nooksack.

March 1, 2003

Okay, it's been WAAAAY too long since I've done a hike, and even still, one could question if this really constitutes a hike, but it was fun anyway.

We drove up to the Mt. Baker ski area and parked, then donned the snowshoes and proceeded up to Artist Point. Oh my god. What a gorgeous day! What a beautiful scene!  :)

These are the pics from our lunch spot. Yay!

Winter is a good time to heed warnings and take the necessary precautions... you never know when a beautiful day is going to fall apart and you'll fall victim to mountain winter weather.

Chain Lakes Loop

October 1, 2005

Our first weekend at the new condo and we were delightfully surprised by our first snow of the season. The road to Artist Point was still open, but it was snowing, hard at times. Rather than tempting fate and risk getting stuck in the parking lot in our quest for Ptarmigan Ridge, we went back down to the visitor center and headed for an alternate trail.   If this spot looks familiar, it should! It's the view from the visitor center at Heather Meadows. The trail on the far side of the lake is the one that we ended up taking, up over the saddle in the top center, and back around behind Table Mountain (top left).

So, from here, we hiked down to the lower dam (down to the right), crossed over, and headed up the valley. There were blueberries galore! omg! Everywhere blueberries! Where are all the critters who should be eating these delicious little morsels??? Yeah, so anyway, munching stops were frequent. We kept following the trail over the saddle, back to Iceberg and Hayes Lakes and around the back side of Table Mountain to Artist Point. Passing the trail spur to Ptarmigan Ridge, our original destination.

It was snowing again as we made the last mile stretch back to Artist Point, enough for a few snowballs to be thrown. But there was no snow when we got back to the Artist Point parking lot, which was slightly disappointing knowing that we could have done Ptarmigan Ridge after all.

In any case, the Chain Lakes Loop was a nice trail and the weather was just about perfect. Snow, rain, wind, sun, clouds, and all...

Goat Mountain

June 30, 2001

Today was part one of a two part weekend enjoying the quickly melting snow of the far North Cascades. We didn't get all the way to the summit last time, so it was time to come back and complete the mountain... best of intentions... best of conditions (sort of)... at least the bugs weren't too bad... and Baker, Shuksan, and Sefrit all came out to play.

Unfortunately, the trail had other plans, at about 5800 feet the trail was disintigrated. We could see trail continuing on across the way, past some snow-filled gullies, but footing was bad and the trail was wrecked, so we decided to not risk any more than we had already (because we couldn't miss tomorrow's action--see Heliotrope Ridge) and headed back down.

Even though we didn't make it to the summit, we felt good about the hike... it wasn't our fault the trail had been swept all the way down the mtn side and become one with the meadow... at least I got some good pictures!

Mt. Sefrit on the right, Mt. Shuksan behind on the left...	follow Shuksan's arm all the way over to Mt. Baker with Goat Mtn in the foreground below.

August 12, 2000

This was to be the first of an entire weekend of hikes that really turned into more of a one hike, mostly road-trip kind of time.

We hit the trailhead just before 10am (3 hrs later than ususal) and, surprising, we were the first ones there.

I had worn long pants and a long-sleeved shirt despite the warm temperatures because of all the "bad bugs" reports all over the North Cascades. I'm glad I did, but not because of the bugs... the bugs were not a problem at all (even on the way down)... but because it was quite cold and windy along the ridge where we finally stopped for the day. Also, I was happy for the coverage because much of the middle third of the trail is very over-grown, some places worse than others, and with the morning dew it was also very wet.

Once you got past the brushiness... you were introduced to the high meadows. They reminded me a lot of Green Mtn... the expansive meadows, the blooming wildflowers, but not the bugs.

The views of Baker, Shuksan, and Sefrit were amazing. From the top, Sefrit was the only one that was cloud-free. The summits of Baker and Shuksan were topped with whipped cream for the hour we waited. It wasn't until we made our way down (and got under the clouds) that we had a clear view of Baker... Shuksan continued to hide. Oh, well...

Looking downhill, to the far left, below the meadows... a valley...	Mt. Sefrit (aka Mt. Sans Serif)

Next to (and a bit behind) Sefrit is Mt. Shuksan...	Almost an hour later... the clouds never quite got out of the way.

Better late than never... Mt. Baker. We waited for an hour on the cool, windy ridge waiting for the clouds to move out of the way. They never did. We started making our way back down and only then (when we got below the clouds) was I able to get a clear shot.

On the way back down, we ran into a Forest Service crew that was doing some trail work... putting in a puncheon... the previously existing one was very destroyed and sprawled out 5-15 feet downhill. Thank you USFS. :)

All in all it was a hike I would highly recommend... 2.5 hrs up (3.5 miles/3000 ft), 1 hr lunch, 1.5 hrs down. (and we stopped a LOT for berries and pictures). Plus, there weren't a lot of people, I think we only passed about 5 groups coming up on our way down. Yay, North Cascades!

"Oh, oh, oh... this trail has BERRIES! Well, maybe it had berries... :) ... we ate quite a few ripe salmonberries (we did leave some, and they will continue to ripen for the next couple of weeks). The blueberries were just starting to ripen and should really be plentiful in another month or so." Excerpt from my WTA trail report. Kay, I have to tell you about Gooseberries... The fruit pictured here was what I thought was a gooseberry. Well, I found out this weekend that I was very wrong. Goat Mtn. had an abundance of this delicious fruit (along with blueberries). On the way to Canada on Saturday afternoon/evening, there was a place where some people were selling home-grown fruit and they had gooseberries... so we HAD to stop and buy some. When she brought them out, they didn't look like these at all... they looked more like a cross between red grapes and cranberries. So, while I was disappointed, we resolved that these must be Salmonberries. Mmmmm... salmonberries :) Now I guess I know what to look for next time. :)

Heliotrope Ridge

July 1, 2001

Today was part two of a two part weekend enjoying the quickly melting snow of the far North Cascades. Last year we came out to Skyline Divide and loved it. Glaciers are Paul's thing, so we couldn't miss this hike.

The parking lot was surprisingly full for 9:00 am in the Baker area. We dreaded what we would find (hoards of people)... luckily, most of the cars belonged to climbers, who were very well behaved and as much a joy to share the trail with as having anyone else on the trail can be... amazing what a noticible difference there is between climbers and day-hikers!

The forest walk was nice and refreshing, the easy grade eased my muscles that were still a bit sore from the day before. You have the opportunity to cross (well, actually, you have to cross them if you wish to continue) several small streams... some of which are waterfalls too. This one (on the right) was my favorite little waterfall... little? It was probably 50 ft high. On the left is another one that just ran down and down and down! Yay, geology!

You can't really see to much when you're in the forest... but then... at about 5000 feet you meet the turnoff for the climber's route to Baker's summit... and the world opens up... right there... front and center is Baker. Each time you meander across a gullies, you get a better view of the mountain... and then... the GLACIER! Wow! It was very impressive.

Oh, yeah. There were marmots up here too! There was this one that played with us a bit. It was standing on a rock as we climbed up, but he scurried away and plopped himself on a snow bank... it was really cute. He laid there for a bit, then got up and waddled off.

Okay, I have a little story now... about the very real dangers of even approaching the edge of a glacier.

We approached the glacier and Paul had to go up and look at it (up close and personal like) and feel it. No problem. The ground all around the edge of the glacier was very fine, silt-like, and very hard to walk on, much less get any footing. While Paul was looking for a spot for lunch, I suggested that we find a spot a little further away where we could actually sit without sliding down. Okay, so we did, and found a nice rock, not too far from the glacier, but far enough away to avoid disaster.

Okay, now, here's the story part... as we were quietly eating our snack, enjoying the view, we heard this loud rumbling CRACK-CRACK-SPLASH! very near by... turns out it was the piece that Paul was standing next to decided it was going to fall over and break apart... see the pictures below!

See Paul standing there in the middle of the picture? Compare the angle and relation of the same spot in the two pictures... Paul would have been in some serious trouble if this had happened while he was standing there...

Lake Ann and Lower Curtis Glacier

August 31, 2002

Lake Ann is a hike we've talked about for a long time... read about, heard about, etc., but never went. We stayed away for two reasons: it's a goober hike (minimal elevation gain) and flocks of people.

Paul hadn't been on a hike in almost two months (since the 4th of July weekend and that wonderful Welcome Pass excursion), so he chose this hike for today in part because it's not too demanding and it's close to Shuksan and glaciers.

We left my place at about 5:45 and reached the trailhead, shrouded in clouds, at 8:15 or so. We started our hike at 8:30.

Right off the bat, you descend 700 feet into this nice valley, eating blueberries the whole way. This valley is the headwaters for Swift Creek. It's a nice walk through the valley, get back into the forest, and descend another hundred feet before reaching "the junction". I'm not sure what it really joins, but it's the half-way point (approximately), there's a pit toilet, and a creek. It's also the lowest point of the trip: 3900'.

From there, it's just under 2 miles and 900' of elevation to reach the lake. We were still under the clouds, and it was a very nice, leisurely walk.   We reached the lake at 10:45. I'm not sure what all the talk is about... it's not a very big lake nor is the lake basin itself particularly scenic. Frankly, it was a bit of a disappointment. There was, however, something else that captured our hearts... there was a glacier... that we could go to... right next to... must... keep... going... :)

The trail to the glacier was challenging... a perilous scramble... at times. It was great, and the views were outstanding (see pictures below). There was one party on the trail ahead of us, we saw them on a snowfield as we were leaving the lake, but never saw them again. Once we were out of earshot of the lake, we were alone... no one else was around. It was nice... it was a surprise.

At 12:15 we reached our spot, a perfect set of rocks to lounge on, perched just above the glacier. We sat there for over an hour, basking in the sun, watching the clouds come and go, playing hide and seek with Mr. Baker, listening to the crackling and crashing of the glacier below us. We even were fortunate enough to see a huge chunk of glacier fall off the Upper Curtis Glacer on the slope above us. <<tee-hee!>>

Above us to our left, the Upper Curtis Glacier	Smack in front of us: Lower Curtis Glacier

We stuck around there for an hour and a half. It was a much longer stop than we'd anticipated, but it was just that kind of day.

On the way back, we ran into the masses of people and the flies. The 700 feet of elevation gain at the very end of the trail was more of a pain in the butt than we thought... Paul just ran out of steam, but I didn't want to stop (or really need to) or go too slow because I didn't want to deal with the flies any more than was absolutely necessary. They were bad, but not nearly as bad as Yellow Aster Butte the previous week. That last stretch really showed me the difference regular hiking makes on your conditioning. Pictured right is the first valley as if you were making your initial descent. We didn't see any of this because the valley had been shrouded in clouds as we began our day.

I'll just say one more thing about the hike back... to my hiking partner: if I say something that pisses you off, call me on it, especially if/when I ask if you're getting grumpy or if everything is okay; if you need to stop, stop... tell me you need to stop... it's okay, I'd much rather deal with a happier partner and the flies than a grumpier partner and the flies. Okay? :)

We reached the car at 4:15 and were off by 4:30 or so. We hit the berry place, der Storehausen, the beer shrine, and the BBQ place. Yes, we were very full and it was all very yummy. Paul picked up some more berry smoked salmon and we each got a streusel at the berry place. Der Storehausen is just a small town local grocery, it reminds me of the little store at Kalaloch, but a bit bigger. The Beer Shrine was very busy, the bar was full and we took the last table. The people who walked in right behind us had to wait for a table... it was a good thing to see them so busy. The BBQ place: we finally stopped. We ate a little there, but mostly we were getting it for left overs. The meat was a bit dry, but it was very delicious.

Mt. Baker

January 17-18, 2004

Twice is just about as many weeks! Almost like summertime... not.  :) Susie invited me up to the Mountaineers Lodge to stay for a night or two since her dad and uncle were running the weekend. Paul came along too, and gave skiing a try for the first time. A great time was had by all.

Skiing turned nasty (see the boot?)... j/k... but after a few beers, everything was back to normal. Lesson learned: When teaching someone to ski... be SURE they have boots that fit nicely.

The next morning, we awoke to snow and darkness. Luckily, the darkness went away and the snow stuck around.  :) I definitely need to do this again... with a bit more planning though.

January 2, 2004

Woo-hoo! Getting the year off right... kind of... at least the visiting Mt. Baker and the beer shrine part.

Yeah, so yesterday wasn't soo great... did the whole 'why don't i be cool like paul and slide across the hardwood floor in my slippery socks' thing... right in front of Paul's homies Chris and Sheila. Yeah, so, uh... didn't go so well... SLAM!!! into the wall. So, uh... moving on...

It was a bit cold and the visibility wasn't the best, but at least the Arizona folks got to kinda see some really neat mountains.

November 22, 2003

It's been waay too long since I've visited my baker friend.  :(  But with the arrival of the snow and the opening of the ski season ( = lots of snow), it was time for a visit... plus Paul needed to indulge at the Beer Shrine.

Today was supposed to be a nice day... at least that's what the weatherman said earlier in the week. Oh well. Gray, spooky, and snowy works just as well. Yay SNOW!!

	We took a nice snowshoeing trip up the valley from the parking lot and around the bowl underneath Table Mountain and the Visitor Center (closed). Lots of up and down and round and round. It was nice to get out and just... GET OUT!! It was doubly nice to have one of my bestest friends with me.  :)

On the way out, there were finally some sun breaks. This was our only view of Shuksan all day.  :) There's a mountain hiding in dem der clouds. tee-hee!

April 27, 2003 Skiing on Mt. Baker... for the first time ever, on the last day of the season. :) We went up in a big group--me, the girls, grandma, and Susie--and had a blast. The weather totally cooperated and so did the bodies.
	<<<<<<<<<BEARS!!! A mama and a baby. We watched for about 10 minutes before they finally lumbered off. It was a great way to start the day and definitely a highlight.

July 5-6, 2002

So this was the first trip to Baker of the year... there was still snow, and we didn't have any big hiking plans, mostly we just wanted to check out the conditions, have a nice camping trip, and get a taste of pizza and beer from the North Fork. All in all it was a great success.

The 4th had scattered rain showers, but it was supposed to clear up through the weekend... and amazingly enough it did!

We headed up at a reasonably late hour, making it to the Glacier Service Center around 1:00. We stopped in the Douglas Fir campground to scope a spot. I was actually surprised there were so many available spots. There were some quiet spots available, but none that were so spectacular that they stopped us in our tracks. We headed up to Silver Fir campground to see what was there... it was nice. We picked spot #20. The table and campfire were right on the river bank and the tent area was back a bit under a tree. Even the toilet was pretty close. We took a break for lunch at the campsite and noticed a meadow way up up up on the other side of the river. There was a trail... Welcome Pass... it was on the Green Trails map, so we decided to head up there.

There was no one in the parking lot. That should've been our first clue. The trail register hadn't been signed since 6/26... clue #2. The first part of the trail wasn't too bad. Brushy and mossy, but normal for so early in the season. Suddenly the trail changed. At the turn of a switchback, it turned from a nice forest walk into more than 2000 feet in less than 2 miles of hell. One good thing was that the trail was snow free as far as we went, which was not all the way to the pass. We stopped at 4800 feet (the trail started at 2200') at the first clear view of Shuksan. In the upper reaches, where the snow had recently melted, the mosquitos were out in force. We didn't stop anywhere for long, even though we really should have. We snacked for 5 minutes, snapped some pictures, then headed down. At least the view was nice. I think this is the first trail ever that I truly dreaded going down.

2:15 up, 1:15 down. It was fast, but it was hard. Going up was a bitch, but going down was really really hard on the legs. As I'm writing this it's 2 days later and I can still barely walk. It's called muscle damage. :(

Instead of just going back to the campground and crashing, we chose to take advantage of the nice weather and take a drive up to Heather Meadows. The road is open just to the upper ski area, and you can tell the snow is melting quickly. There was about 2-3 feet of snow remaining on the unplowed road to the Heather Meadows Visitor Center (not yet open). It was a bit windy, but the view of Shuksan was gorgeous.

Then, it was time to head back to the campground, set up camp, and chow on some yummy salmon and potato salad. And that's what we did. Now it was sleepy time.

We awoke on Saturday morning to beautiful sunshine and blue skies. We made coffee and had breakfast and played Simpsons' Uno, then packed up and rolled out of there at about 10 or so. It was obvious to us both that another hike today was out. We were both a bit sore... just a taste of the pain to come. It was a road trip, exploring, and scoping kind of day. First we headed up Glacier Creek Road, past the Heliotrope trailhead to Mt. Baker Vista. We found the best view to be 500' or so below the Vista parking lot. We stopped by the side of the road, watched the high clouds float by, snapped some photos, and scoped our next spot.

And so we found a hike that we have to do later on this summer: Nooksack Cirque. It's a low elevation valley walk, but the valley is wide and the cliffs are 5000' straight up. The trailhead is 1 mile down a spur road off the FS road to Goat. The road is in serious need of some brushing and lopping. My <small> car got seriously scratched navigating the road overgrown with alder. Towards the end of the road there was a pull-out. I decided to stop the car there and walk the rest of the way. At the trailhead there is a creek, Ruby Creek, which must be forded. The water is pretty swift and the creek is up to 2' deep and freezing cold. We spent some time playing in the freezing water. It was a nice thing to do on a nice day.

After that, we took the Goat Mtn. road past the Goat trailhead to its end at the Hannegan Pass trailhead. That looks like another good one to do. The trailhead was pretty full this weeked, with more than 20 cars.

Being all hiked and walked out, it was time to hit the beer shrine... well, we had to stop at the fruit stand first. Pizza was good, beer was good, calzone was good... we even took Hwy 9 all the way home. Traffic was light. Amazing.

Sunday the weather turned bad. It rained all day today. Good thing we came and went when we did. It was a great start to a promising summer.

Mt. Baker National Park

August 12-13, 2000

Heather Meadows

From the Visitor Center... to the left, Table Mountain... Waterfalls off to the right...

Waterfall on Galena Creek (left)

Nooksack Cirque

September 28, 2002

It's getting towards the end of the prime hiking season and what does that mean?? Well... if you remember, back in July Paul and I found a trailhead, the one that scratched my car up real good. Yep, that was the Nooksack Cirque.

Now that it's late fall, the river is low enough to navigate the trail which travels 3.5 miles in the forest and 2.5 miles on the riverbed. Add the extra mile (each way) to the end of the road (Paul didn't want to scratch up his new car, I can't blame him) and it was a refreshing 14 mile hike.

It's tough to walk on rocks.

We started out in Tevas... knowing it was going to be wet, and knowing there were several feet of water to cross from the get-go, it seemed the logical choice. Two hours to the river bed, two hours to where we could go no further. As you enter the river bed, Icy Peak dominates the scene. (right) The weather was very cooperative... it was partly to mostly cloudy, which kept the temperature very comfortable.

The water was cold, and colder the further we went. On the way back, I sported my neoprene socks... they were awesome! Kept my feetsies all nice and warm.

This is where we stopped... the picture doesn't do the scene justice. The walls are amazing, and it's absolutely beautiful to just gaze up at the glaciers with the river rushing nearby.	Another view from the trail, on the way back to the car. I couldn't stop looking back. :()

This rock was just too neat to pass up the photo opp. Can you see how this rock fit together? It broke right here in this place... I wonder how... was it the river, an avalanche... ? Would've been an impressive sight.

On the way back, Paul stepped over an underground bee-hive, disturbing the bees just enough to get a sting or two or three... three in all. Owie.

The aftermath... sore feet and a sore muscle along the outside of my calves.

Nooksack Falls and Wells Creek Falls August 13, 2000 Last time (and the first time I can remember) I was here, it was November. Raining, snowing, cold. The Nooksack River and Wells Creek were both running VERY high and brown with dirt. Today was a bit more enjoyable... sunny weather, not too hot, not too cold. When I came out here with Susie last November, the road to Wells Creek Falls was closed. It's a good thing it was. It's not one of the forest service roads you want to be driving in "less than ideal" conditions.

As you drive the 4.6 miles to the falls, you are tempted (and I did quite a bit of stopping) by Mt. Baker. These views were particularly nice because of our lack of views of Baker yesterday from Goat Mtn.

Wells Creek Falls... To quote my waterfall book: "Better vantages of the falls require walking and scrambling along the creek, so plan on getting wet." We walked about two-thirds of the way from the road to the falls. "My Hero" had to carry me across one spot, but for the most part, getting to this point was fairly dry (splashes don't count). If it were a little bit warmer day, I think we (well, I) would have removed the socks and shoes and pushed ahead to the waterfall's base. But, as it was, it wasn't too warm, the water was ice-cold, and we had a lot more to do today. Besides... I have to save something for next time, right?

Ptarmigan Ridge

October 9, 2005

Second try in as many weeks, but this time it wasn't the weather that got in our way. The damn road was closed! Stupid roads. So, with the girls in tow, we headed up the closed road from the upper ski area parking lot, clearing the road of fallen rocks and speculating about why the road may have been closed. There was even less snow than last week. The cloud level was high enough that there was great visibility of the snow line. The mountain in the center is Goat.

We made it up to Artist Point and stopped for a snack. After not too long, we forged on heading out to Ptarmigan Ridge. Going out the spur only to the first big turn.

Not a bad walk in the wilderness. The rain even stayed away for most of the trip, only coming out at the very end when a TOUR BUS of hiking dorks were stomping all over the lower trails and meadows. I'm sorry, a tour bus? One guy even asked me how far it was to the snow... i told him no snow for him today... come back in a few weeks with warmer clothes and better prepared.  ;)

This was a view of the lower Curtis Glacier on Mt. Shuksan from the backside of Artist Point. Stunning!

November 6, 2001

My commentary for this hike is most definitely brief... It's New Year's Eve and I at least wanted to start the new year up to date with my page... hopefully I'll get it done in time. :)

So, as I recall, this is the last of the three main hiking approaches to Mt. Baker for Paul and me to visit. The day was a bit questionable, but didn't turn out too badly.

There were some sunbreaks, but no views. At times it was down-right cold, windy, even snow! The vegetation was in full autumn colors, the blueberry bunch leaves were scarlet red. Yay alpine fruit in the fall!

Coming up on the final turn towards Baker, this (left) was our view... you can barely see the foot of Baker hiding on the upper left corner of the picture. Beyond that, it's all clouds. Stupid hiding mountain. The wind was hitting that side of the hill (facing Baker) pretty hard, so we backtracked a little bit and found a nice lunch spot overlooking this nice little plateau and lake.

As we started to hike back down, it started to snow! There was no accumulation, but it was the first snow of the year, at least for us... see the white specks below?

Skyline Divide

August 27, 2005

It hasn't been quite the week of hiking it was last time we were here, but it's been fun nonetheless. Yesterday we put an offer in on a condo in the Snowline Inn/Condos in Glacier and we'll find out Monday if we're in. I've got my fingers crossed.

Both Guido and I were skeptically optimistic in how we'd do on this hike. He's been biking to work a lot and I've been back in the gym... so we were hoping it'd be a relatively easy hike for both of us. We made it to the lunchbox peak in about an hour and were happy to press onward. We went along the ridge for a while... up and down... up and down... finally stopping just before 4 miles at the highest peak on the trail 65-something.

We hit the trail just before 10 and glad we weren't any later. It was a gorgeous day with no clouds in the morning. The sun was hot and there was a constant flow of steam drifting off the top of Baker.

From where we stopped, we could see the glacier that the Heliotrope trail runs up to just over Chowder Ridge. The views were fantastic. We finished our lunch and headed back around 1. By now there were a few clouds floating around, providing the occasional shade. It was quite warm no matter where you were.

With our legs complaining, we made our way down, around the horse poop and loads of people. By the time we finally reached the parking lot at about 2:45, it was very full with almost 30 cars/trucks/horse trailers.

The bugs weren't too bad at all. Should've put on the sunscreen that we brought. Quads a little sore the next day, but overall it was a GREAT hike.

Oh, yeah, and I forgot my camera and our trail pass, so there's no pictures. :(

September 24, 2000

This has been quite a week of hiking! This is my 4th hike in one week! Quite amazing, I must say. Maybe that's why I don't have so many pictures from this place.

One word of advice for this trail... even though it may look harder, take the high (right) trail. We look the low trail and missed out on some views, I think. It was nice, needless to say, but it might have been better as far as the views get.

Mt. Baker from one of the first points on the ridge.	Later, the bright fall colors of a valley.

You spend the first part of the hike switchbacking through lush green forest. Then, all of a sudden, you pop out onto this ridge (pictured above left), and you just follow the ridge. Around each up and down and turn, you get a slightly different view of Mt. Baker.

Table Mountain

August 12, 2001

On this beautiful day, I decided to pack up the girls and take a trip up to Baker. They have such great memories of our "picnic in the car" that I was looking forward to having them actually see the mountain. Also, I knew that the road to Artist Point was open and I had never been up there, so off we went.

The weather was gorgeous, only random clouds in the sky... and none over Baker! What a miracle.

The Table Mountain trail is relatively flat after its initial climb. There was enough snow to have snowball fights and to keep cool, but not enough to be an obstruction. Just the kind of snow I like. Also, the bugs weren't too bad.

Mt. Shuksan from Table Mtn.	Table Mountain from Table Mtn.

The girls playing with rocks... Baker in the background.	Heading down, Bagley Lakes below us.

Whatcom Falls (off I-5 in South Bellingham) March 2, 2000 This falls is in a book of NW waterfalls that I have... and since I was driving by anyway on my way to Victoria... well,,, I HAD to stop... can't pass up a waterfall, you know.

Yellow Aster Butte

August 24, 2002

It's Sunday at 8:40 as I begin writing this... remembering that yesterday at this time, not only was I almost in Canada, but I was also just past Gold Run pass on my ascent to Yellow Aster Butte. Ugh.

I had a really full day... how could I make the gorgeous hike up to YAB and go to the Seahawks game that started at 7:00? Well, let me tell you. Oh, before I do, let me just add the complication of weather... it was very difficult for me to get a good idea of what the weather would be like on Saturday, best I could tell it would be nice in the morning (how 'nice' I wasn't sure), but then in the afternoon showers, and possibly thundershowers, would be moving up from Oregon (that ruled out heading down to Rainier). Okay, so back to the plan: I set my alarm for 4:15. Yuck. Needless to say, I ignored it. However, much to my surprise, I woke up at 4:23 and was ready to go. Scary. I pulled out of the driveway at 4:45 and headed North! It was early and still dark and there was practically no traffic. As I made my way North, dawn broke and I was able to catch glipses of brightly colored clouds and mountain peaks.

So this was my plan... leave 4:30, be at the mtn by 7:30, on the trail shortly thereafter, be back at the car by 1 or 1:30, be back home by 5, get showered and ready for the game, including running over to work to print out my tickets on a laser printer, catch a bus by 6 down to the game which started at 7 and if I was running late, I'd just drive to the game and park (and pay through the nose).

Okay, so I was a bit late on the plan from the beginning... I didn't leave until 4:45. However, traffic was great and I didn't get stuck behind any slow-moving vehicles (trucks, tractors, grannies, etc., take your pick), so I actually hit the trail at 7:30!

Even though it was early, it was already getting warm. The sun had just begun to hit the cliffs above the parking area. I didn't waste a lot of time getting ready because I wanted to beat as much of the sun as possible... and to get through the trail before the flies woke up. (I'd read a trail report that said the flies were bad.) I didn't quite get through the lower meadows before the sun hit me, almost but not quite. What a difference hiking in the sun vs not in direct sunlight makes!

My hiking must finally be working its way into me because I pretty much made it to Gold Run pass without stopping. I was pretty amazed, too, when it only took an hour. I passed one group of 4 guys who made some crack about 'not being beat to the top by a girl'. Ha, they were slowpokes. :) Again, it wasn't until I hit marmot country (a third or so of the way around the 5200 ft contour) that I was treking in sunlight. There were lots of baby marmots. On the whole trip, I think I saw about 20 marmots, and well over half, maybe 15, were babies or juvenilles. Baker was out, in full glory, not a cloud in the sky, sun-drenched and gorgeous.

I reached the bottom of the climb to the butte (above the tarns) at about 9:20 or so and figured I'd reach the top by 10. I was excited to see the top with such nice weather. See the views? Yay!! West towards Tomyhoi (right) and South towards Baker (left)

Okay, so I had a plan on how to get to the top... it's the 50 step and stop approach. It's one that I think I used last time, mostly because 50 steps was as much as I could do at a time and I needed to stay somewhat motivated and focused on something other than how hot it was and how tired my legs were. It worked great. I took 50 steps, then stopped to catch my breath, then another 50 and so on. Amazingly, it worked great! I got to the top by 9:45 and I wasn't even really that winded. Yay lots of hiking conditioning!

<<<<<<<< Mt. Shuksan... of course with flowers in the foreground... :) On another tangent, about a month ago I bought some insect repellent: a plant-based Off product. Today was the first day that I really lathered it on, and did so from the moment I got out of the car. I hate bugs! In the lower reaches of the trail, and really until I hit the (small) snowfields at the end of the 5200' contour, there were no bugs to speak of. At 9:00, though, the bugs came out. I had bees/flies that would fly around me when I was walking, but whenever I would stop, they would go away and no bugs would really bother me. I figured it must be the repellent working! Even at the top of the butte, the bugs were around, but they didn't bother me at all. I had to reapply the lotion a couple of times during the trip, but it seemed to be working... at least for now.

So I made awesome time up to the butte, and didn't really seem rushed at all (you know like sometimes you won't stop to take a breath because you know you'll be swarmed by bugs?). Two hours and fifteen minutes for 3.5 miles and 2500 ft of elevation. Okay, so maybe that's not so great... I thought it was longer with more elevation.

Anyway, so I figured I'd be back down by noon (after having breakfast on the butte), which would give me time to stop at the BBQ place, try it out, and still get back in plenty of time.

So, again, reality turned out to be completely different from plan. By the time I got back to the 5200' contour, I could feel the heat and I could see the number of flies increasing, but still felt a bit inconspicuous to the flies. Okay, so that didn't last too long. Before long, I was practically running down the mountain... no practically about it... I WAS running... to avoid being swarmed. Anytime I had to stop to let those ascending pass there were two problems: 1, I had to stop, and 2, I had to pass through their fly-wake. EVERY person had their own swarm of more than 50 flies. THANK GOD I GOT AN EARLY START!!! I WOULD HAVE BEEN MISERABLE!!!

I reached the car at 11:30... a mere hour and twenty minutes from when I started my descent. I jumped in the car and drove off as fast as I could. I didn't even change or anything, just stopping to unlock the door I got my own swarm. I figured I'd stop down the road in the shade where the flies wouldn't be so bad. ICK! It was really yucky. I stopped once in a pull-off about halfway down the road, opened the door and got swarmed, so I headed off again, again as quickly as I could. It wasn't until I hit the highway and found a pull off several miles up the highway was I able to open the door without being swarmed. I changed there and headed for home.

I passed up the beer shrine because by this point I was craving BBQ and a cold lemonade... I hoped the BBQ place would have lemonade. I optimistically came up to the Hwy 9 interchange, turned on my blinker... and they weren't open yet! I was severely disappointed. :( What would I do now? Well, I stopped at Applebee's right by I-5 and had BBQ riblets and ice cold lemonade and watched the Ms lose to Cincinati and the Angels beat Boston. It hit the spot and I had lots of left-overs.

By the time I was done with lunch and heading down the freeway, the clouds were moving in. Not big stormy clouds or anything, just those higher, foggy kind of clouds that make long distance visibility difficult. Although it was a bright and sunny day, it was no longer clear and I could barely see any mountains on my drive home. Thank goodness I went up early, not only for the bugs, but also for the weather. Normally it's been just the opposite with the weather... it's cloudy in the morning and we don't see squat, then by the time we're driving home it's clear and you can see the mountains from the freeway. Fortunately it wasn't this way today. :)

So, I was home by 3, even with the big lunch stop. I was way ahead of plan and even had time to sneak a little nap!

September 16, 2000

Again, in the interest of timeliness, I am pulling most of my intriguing verbage from a trail report posted with the WTA.

The first part of this trail is a killer. In the first hour of the hike, we gained over 1400 feet of elevation. Paul told me it was steep, but I had no idea it would be like this... needless to say, I was relieved when it was over and looked forward to dreading the trip down.

Anyway, a short time later, we reached Gold Run Pass which, until today, you couldn't be sure which way to go where. A very nice and tough Forest Service lady came up at about the same time we did and put up a sign... Yellow Aster Butte to the left and Tomyhoi to the right. Once you pass the split, the trail is very flat as you follow the 5300 foot contour for quite aways. There are still some largish snow fields to cross (although they are much, much smaller than last year, I'm told). This section of the trail is a great place to catch your breath from the first steep slopes.

	Near the end, as you make the last turns before you begin your ascent to the butte, the blueberries are in their full spendor. They're everywhere and plump and ripe. I'm amazed there're still so many left on the bushes... I guess there haven't been too many people like Paul up the trail lately. Darned blueberry monsters!
	The fall colors are just starting to come out, reds and oranges, but there are still fields of wildflowers. The contrast is very pleasant.

Today the view from the butte had its moments, but not really very many. The funnest part was watching the surrounding mountains appear and disappear before you could get your camera out.

The only mountain that we got a good view of was Tomyhoi. There is a small valley between YAB and Tomyhoi and there are many trails that cross it. The lakes in that valley were pretty much melted out and the brilliant teal blue colors of the lakes was a nice contrast the the red, orange, and brown landscape.

My only suggestions for this trip: go up early (the beginning steep and some heat could spell disaster) and go on a clear day (the 360 degree views will be spectacular).