Visit to Mt. Baker

Donna arrived yesterday, flew in from Cleveland, and we decided to jump right in and go to the Mt. Baker and the Wilderness area surrounding it.  This is located north of Seattle and hugs the Canadian border.  Our first stop was to a trail called Horseshoe Bend Trail which runs along the Nooksack River.  The water is a milky color, called flour, which is the left over substance from all the rocks grinding away and then being in the water.  Pretty cool.

Our travel route today

At the top of the trail by the road

Nice path along the river (yes, that blue is the river)

Walked along the trail for about a mile, Donna walked a bit more, then we continued the drive up the Mt. Baker Highway and stopped at Nooksack Falls.  This is where an old hydroelectric power station existed, using the power of the water to generate electricity.

Nooksack Falls

Got our fix of the waterfall, got back in the car and continued on up to the top.  We came to the entrance to Heather Meadows area, lots and lots of people, and then went all the way to the end called Artist Point.  Could not find parking so Dave parked along the roadway back down, right beside a huge snow bank.  Started up the Table Mountain Trail and I stopped after a short distance, hard to walk through the snow and the climb had gotten quite steep.  Dave and Donna continued on, I stopped on a rock outcropping and watched the world go by.  Dave eventually stopped and returned to where I was, Donna hiked up to the top of Table Mountain and walked a bit up there.  When she came down she said she was very tired.  I can imagine!

Snow bank by car

Crazy kids

And lots of people - lots

Mt. Baker has it's own personal weather

Only flowers we saw in bloom

Mt. Shuksan, part of the North Cascades National Park

Lots of people, like little ants

And the obvious - man and dog in a photo shoot

The glaciers on Mt. Shuksan, very blue

Look at the zig-zag trail - the person with the yellow shirt - Donna

Nice day on the mountain.  Dave and I had a chance to talk with a ranger while waiting for Donna to come back and he said this was the first weekend that the weather was nice.  It was a terribly wet, rainy June and the 3 weeks of July.  We were lucky with the weather!!