Karen and Tom Wanderings

After a decent night's sleep at a condo in Glacier, we made the relatively short drive up to Artists Point on the side of Mt Baker.  The Ptarmigan Ridge trail delivers a very high bang-for-your-buck experience, and it seemed perfect to celebrate Karen's birthday.  It's all above tree line, winds along steep hillsides, over ridges and into multiple drainages, giving constantly changing views.  And, of course, there's always Mt Baker and Mt Shucksan for the awe factor.  The trail ends on a rocky outcropping high up on the side of Mt Baker, with in-your-face views of the mountain, as well as distant ridges and peaks beyond count.  From near the end of the trail, we spotted a smoke plume a ways to the east, which ended up being a wildfire sparked by the thunderstorm we saw/heard the previous day.  Needless to say, the area is quite popular, so there was a bit of a conga-line feel to it at times, but, hey, it comes with the territory sometimes.  Bluebird ...

The Mt Baker area has become a favorite go-to in our later years, when we've had time for the 3 hour drive.  In this case, we decided to spend the night at an AirBnB so we could double-dip on the hikes.  Yellow Aster Butte sits just north of Mt Baker, very close to the Canadian border.  The hike is steep, but the payoff is excellent hiking, twisting and turning through big open country.  Glaciated peaks and flower-filled hillsides!  Sound of Music country.  The weather was perfect, though thunder storms could be seen a bit to the east.  On our descent, we got treated to a thunder concert while hiking in the sun!  Well, until the last 50 yards to the car, when the downpour caught up with us!  Fireweed Mt Baker beyond Keep Kool Butte Cloud Parade over Mt Baker Rock Garden Storm clouds beyond Goat Mtn More Photos Sleeps Glacier, WA ... Snowline Inn (very basic, but serviceable)

Selecting hikes with snow-free trails and big views, but no bugs, is a constant challenge and fraught with uncertainty.  Trap Pass seemed to fit the bill for this week's hike.  We'd been to the area several times in the distant past, so figured it was time for a refresh.  It's located on the PCT a bit south of Stevens Pass, and probably doesn't end up on any lists of "destination" hikes.  The connector trail to the PCT is wooded, and a bit of a grind, but once on the PCT, you climb through subalpine flower gardens and eventually traverse hillsides with good views of surrounding peaks and lovely Trap Lake (which, at least at one point, had great fishing).  Once again, we had bluebird skies making for an very enjoyable day.  The only buzz-killer was the swarming mosquitos at the Pass.  Like I said, there's always uncertainty.   Trap Lake Fireweed Boisduval's Blue Butterflies Lupine More Photos

We're always itching for a good dose of alpine flowers, and the Paradise area at Mt Rainier is a prime location for indulging.  So, once again we headed down to The Mountain on another gorgeous day.  One of the downsides (at least for Tom) is the popularity of the area.  Crowds are ever present, and hiking in a conga line is just one of the bitter pills to swallow for the beauty.  We hiked up to Panarama Point, and decided to head off the main trail for a bit to find a good lunch spot.  We soon stumbled upon a Park ranger, who had a secret spot she that she used for her lunch breaks (great minds think alike).  She aimed us up a bit higher to McClure Rock, and it was perfect.  Big views and solitude.  On the way up, the flowers didn't seem as prolific as in some of our previous visits, but on our way down we got our fill!  Brian joined us for the car ride, but left us to our slow pace and humble objectives, while he blasted up to Camp Muir and...

Our son, Brian, came to visit, and almost immediately asked if we'd be interested in picking him up at Stevens Pass the following evening.  His intent?  Running from Snoqualmie Pass to Stevens Pass on the PCT (73 miles)!  We obliged, and decided to do a late afternoon hike out of Stevens Pass to Lake Valhalla.  Our late departure from Seattle allowed us to have a tasty lunch in the mountain town of Skykomish on the way to the Pass.  The trail was mostly through nice forest with limited views, but as we gained elevation, we got occasional views of the nearby ridges and peaks.  We bypassed the trail down to the lake itself (bugs were fierce), and instead followed a pretty steep side trail towards the summit of Mt. McCausland, where the view of the lake and Lichtenburg Mtn were stunning.  After returning to our car, we had sandwiches for dinner at the base of the ski resort, while waiting for Brian.  We eventually picked him up at the Surprise Lake t...