Mt Baker, how I missed you!

Hello everyone

I had a lovely extra long weekend. Friday evening I went to the Backstage, a bar behind the Bagdad Theater, where Kyle had reserved a room to celebrate his birthday. We all had pizza and drinks and yakked the night away. There was lots of pool playing all night, of course none of it by me. It was a fun night and it was great to have a weekend night in Portland.

Saturday morning I finished packing and grocery shopping. I stopped by Elaine and Gina’s house to see them for a bit before they headed off for Montana for the week. We hung out on the sunny porch until I had to get home to meet Jess. Jess and I loaded up my car and headed north on I-5. We arrived at Sara’s house with her and Jeremy waving at us from the deck. We brought some stuff inside then we all walked downtown to Bandito’s Burritos for some dinner. My friend Tom met us there too. I became friends with Tom when he was a Trout Laker. He’s now living in Bellingham to go to school. We ate our burritos then walked around the waterfront for a bit before going to the Boundary Bay Brewery. We enjoyed beers out on the patio though we were all full from the burrito dinner. We rolled ourselves back to Sara’s house where we hung out on the deck talking.

Sunday morning we made coffee and got ready to head up the mountain. Jeremy had to head back to Canada so he could work on the sailboat (the head specifically, ugh!) in preparation for our sailing trip the next weekend. Jess and I headed out first, stopping for ice and gas before driving up the Mt Baker Highway. We were staying at Silver Fir Campground, a small place with only 21 sites and the highest campground up the mountain. Our site was right on the North Fork of the Nooksack River with a big beach of river rock soaking in the sun. We set up our tent and made sandwiches. Tom arrived with his dog Barley and shortly after that, Sara showed up. Sara and Jess decided to stay and relax on the sunny riverside. Jess had just gotten back from her honeymoon, which involved more backpacking than she had envisioned. She was excited to sit in the sun and read Harry Potter.

So Tom drove us up the Mt Baker Highway. We stopped at Picture Lake and took lots of pictures of the perfect reflection of Mt Shuksan on the lake’s surface. We then continued on up the road to Artist Point. The views here are phenomenal! We chose a random trail and started walking along. In one direction was Mt Baker and the other Mt Shuksan. It was staggeringly beautiful! We hiked along with other hikers stopping to pet Barley, Tom’s great border collie. At Ptarmigan Ridge we stopped as the trail was descending into snow fields. We walked up to another viewpoint and Tom threw snowballs for Barley who loves the snow. We hiked back the same way we came, stopping to check out the flowers and crazy melting snow formations. We drove back down the beautiful twisty road and stopped to collect some firewood before going back to the campsite. Tom stayed for a beer before heading back to Bellingham. I collected more sticks around our campsite and Jess started a fire so we could cook dinner. Sara steamed some chard, my first camping chard ever! Jess cooked our food on the grate over the fire: chicken breasts, corn on the cob and zucchini and red peppers. We hung out talking around the fire until sleepiness took over.

Monday morning we woke up and made coffee. It was already a blue sky day, a good sign for sure. I made breakfast of bacon and eggs then we packed up some lunch before heading up the Mt Baker Hwy. We stopped at Picture Lake of course for the stupendous view of Mt Shuksan then continued on to Artist Point. Mt Baker was hiding in the clouds and only popped out a little bit for us. We decided to drive back down a little ways and hike around Bagley Lakes. One of the lakes in particular is fantastically colored from deep blue to orangey red on the edges. It looks like a lake one would see in Yellowstone. We hiked down the lava rock and followed the trail along the stream between the two main lakes. The small arch bridge across the stream was lovely and the water was perfectly clear. We hiked along the water’s edge until the trail went into scree and snow. Hiking back the other direction we hiked to the other main lake and stopped to eat lunch along a stream from melting blocks of snow. I’m very lucky to eat lunch in such locations! We wound our way back up the trail and drove down to our campsite. We all went down to the rocky beach where we read in the warm sunshine before it dropped below the trees. I gathered a little more wood and then started a fire and prepared dinner. We had steak, cheesy potatoes and corn. We sat around the fire talking for a long time before calling it bedtime. Jess and I said our goodbyes to Sara as she was going to be getting up very early to head back to town and then to work.

Tuesday morning I woke up to light rain falling on the tent. I pulled my sleeping bag over my head and hoped that it would stop before I woke up again. It didn’t. It wasn’t raining hard but more of a steady drizzle. I took a few last pictures of the river. Jess and I had coffee and breakfast and began packing up. Putting a wet tent away is never fun and I’d new I’d have to dry it in my basement when I got home. No one wants a mildewy tent. On our way back down the Mt Baker Hwy we stopped to look at Nooksack Falls which was beautiful and gushing. From there it was a long haul down I-5. A drive I knew I would be making again in just two days. Phew!So that was my weekend. Please let me know how you are and what you’ve been up to!

Xoxo,
carolyn