08/16/03 Hiking Heliotrope Ridge Trail(6 miles round trip):
I came up to the north side of Mount Baker yesterday. I dropped my good laptop off in Mount Vernon the other day and spent yesterday getting the old one set up with a USB/PCMIA adapter and an operating system to support it. That required reformatting the hard drive and then I got to reload all my software again.
Some thunder last night but no rain. Gray and overcast this morning though. Still in the 50's at 9am at 3800 feet. After a moderately steep 1/2 mile, the trail eased off to some up and some level. I couldn't see anything out over the slopes because of the fog.
After 40 minutes or so I began encountering runoffs that had to be crossed. The first couple were easy, the next one I found a decent crossing downstream 100 feet or so. The last one was wide enough to have flower colored islands in the middle. I wandered uphill to find a crossing then wandered up the island for the next, etc.
Many trails shot off in different directions, probably made by climbers and campers. I climbed up over a ridge and there was Coleman Glacier, not yet fogged in. About 1/4 mile wide and 1/2 mile upwards. It seemed to be covered with crevasses and cracks. I saw 9 climbers near the bottom of the glacier and 5 more higher up.
I continued to climb along side the glacier another 1/2 mile to about 5300 feet. The sun came out briefly and then disappeared. Purple, white and some yellow flowers here and there. I had lunch while watching the climbers and marmots and waiting for the fog to roll out. No luck on that so started back. Lots of waterfalls cascading down from different directions.
I got partway back down and noticed blue skies behind me. I was tempted to go back up again but decided against it. A nice thing about being retired, there's always tomorrow.
08/17/03 Hiking Heliotrope Ridge Trail(again):
The days don't get much better than this, lower 70's, light breeze, bright sunshine. A little too much sun though. It was directly over Mount Baker at 10am making photos difficult. Late afternoon would be best. Sunrise causes Mount Baker to turn pink while it turns golden at sunset.
I brought sandals along and combined with the walking stick made the crossings easier. Instead of spending 30 minutes trying to find ways across without getting wet I just plunged in at likely places. The water was brutally cold though. My feet were in pain within 30 seconds.
Great views of Coleman Glacier from all directions. Mount Baker and the waterfalls cascading down from the Black Buttes fronted by purple flowers were beautiful. The sun caused a glare to reflect up from the glacier, the waterfalls and Mount Baker. A couple of photos turned out OK. Can't have everything.
I climbed to about 5800 feet along side Coleman Glacier. The glacier came right to the edge of where I was climbing. I walked over and touched my first glacier and like a little kid stood there and yelled 'yeaaaaaah!'. A little farther on a couple of slabs had broken off the glacier making inviting steps and soon I was standing on Coleman Glacier. I just wandered around a small area. Crevasses and rotten looking ice kept me from even thinking about going farther.
08/18/03 Hiking Skyline Divide Trail(11 miles round trip):
Another winner here. The trailhead 4200 feet. Two miles through the woods and 1500 feet bring you to the a ridge with excellent views to the north at 5800 feet. The first 1.5 miles is fairly steep but eases the last 1/2 mile as the trail passes through a couple of small meadows. Lots of white flowers here and some purple and some yellow ones too.
On the ridge, left takes you to a large meadow while the right fork leads towards Mount Baker. A few knolls have to be climbed and the trail passes around a couple of them too. I climbed the 3rd one from the ridge to 6250 feet. It was supposed to have great views and it did, but, I would bypass it next time if I was to continue down the trail. Those views are just as good without the climb.
I continued to the end of the trail which was at the next to the last crest before Mount Baker. As I climbed the last knoll, three small hawks, I took to be peregrine falcons, began swooping around in the valley between ridges. They must have just been playing because they put on quite an aerial show with their diving, barrel rolls and other maneuvers.
It took me 4 hours, including lunch and breaks to travel the 5.5 miles or so. Great views of Mount Baker, Mount Shuksan and many other jagged mountain peaks that line up one behind the other.
08/19/03 Hiking Artists Point Ridge Trail(1 mile round trip):
Today was an off day, both to rest my legs a little and to just not hike for a day. Drove the rest of the way to the Mount Baker Ski Area and Heather Meadows and on up to Artists Point. Here I found one of the most beautiful and most spectacular views in the country.
Mount Baker, covered with glaciers and now fronted by several slopes and ridges covered with pine trees appears on the right while Mount Shuksan and its glaciers is to the left. I found a spot past the pond facing Mount Baker where I could see either mountain just by turning my head. And that's what I did for 20-25 minutes. Wispy clouds were moving around Mount Baker and thicker clouds kept changing the view on Mount Shuksan. When I got tired of one view I just turned by head and got a new one. Back and forth, back and forth.
08/20/03 Hiking Chain Lakes Trail(14 miles round trip):
This loop includes the Chain Lakes Trail and the Wild Goose Trail. I chose not to do the loop, mainly because I don't like loops that long. I'd rather go out and return the same way rather than face the unknown at the end of a trail I really don't know.
I picked up the Chain Lakes Trail off the lower Wild Goose Trail. I followed the Bagley Lake Trail along the far side which lie in a deep basin with table mountain at the far end.
Once past the two small Bagley Lakes the trail begins a 1200 foot climb out of the basin. This is a pretty easy, but steady grade. Mount Shuksan appears on the left and remains in view the entire distance.
Mount Baker emerges over a ridge as you near the top of the climb. After a short descent, the first of the Chain Lakes appears. Wow! Only a few acres, Table Mountain rises directly up from the water with several small glaciers or snow patches clinging to its side. Mount Baker rises up behind a stand of tall pines.
The lake, a deep blue was as smooth as a mirror, not a ripple, from 600-800 feet above it. A truly beautiful sight. I wanted to get down to the shore to see if Mount Baker would be reflected in the lake.
The GPS said I had only dropped from 5400 feet to 4900 feet. It certainly seemed more than a 500 foot drop. Huckleberry and blueberry bushes made it difficult to find a way to a spot with an open view of the lake but I finally did it. But just as I got there a breeze came up causing ripples across the lake. I sat there and had lunch and eventually the ripples died out for the most part and I got a few pretty good pictures.
08/21/03 Hiking Lake Ann Trail(9.4 miles round trip):
This morning got off to an interesting start. The Lake Ann trailhead is up near Artists Point. I got to Picture Lake and found the road blocked by a state police car. They were shooting a commercial for Chevrolet. Picture Lake reflects Mount Shuksan when the waters are calm and the sun is right. Mount Shuksan is one of the most heavily photographed mountains used for various commercials. They were still at it when I came back down after the hike.
The trailhead is at 4800 feet and immediately drops 600 feet down into a deep, wide basin. Peaks and walls rise up 1500 feet or more, completely surrounding the basin... duh! otherwise it wouldn't be a basin, would it? Several of the peaks still had snow patches or small glaciers near the upper areas.
Going down the trail I had new and interesting views of Mount Baker. Lots of pine covered slopes and what appeared to be limestone like formations. Much of the downhill portion of the trail has blueberry and huckleberry bushes on both sides... and they're in season.
After a 600 foot drop the trail passes through a meadow and then back into the woods where it drops 200 feet more. At 2.25 miles and 3900 feet the trail crosses a tiny trickle and then begins an upward climb. It pops out of the woods into the open and passes through a couple of rock slides as it climbs 1000 feet to 4900 feet.
Lake Ann appears at the top of the rise. A pretty lake of 5-10 acres it seems to end at a precipice. All you could see beyond it was blue sky and glacier topped mountains in the distance. Then Mount Shuksan appears 1/4 mile away. Huge peaks and glaciers make a beautiful scene, particularly when reflected in the still waters of Lake Ann.
I poked around the area for an hour or so an headed back just in time to run into a lot of hikers still coming up. When I got back to the 600 foot drop I emptied one of my water bottles and got a bunch of blueberries for breakfast.