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Another Fall Hike

My friend Cindy came to visit from Grant County and she really likes to hike the Maple Pass trail so on Monday, that’s what we did. Us and over 100 other hikers. The place has become overrun with visitors. The restrooms were strewn with trash from the weekend. It was pretty appalling. I heard that someone else estimated 500 hikers on a weekend day. Egads. While this place is over-the-top beautiful, I may take it off of my list of places to hike. Cindy agreed and said she is ready to explore new trails next time.

Ice crystals pushed up through the packed dirt of the shaded part of the trail.
Luna was delighted to find new snow.
Almost to the top
Looking south with Glacier Peak on the left
Lake Ann
It wasn’t all yellow and orange.

Luna’s Birthday Party

Luna’s twelfth birthday was this past weekend and we celebrated with friends (dogs and people) and a hike to Cutthroat Lake Sunday afternoon. The original forecast had been for good weather but it was overcast and tried to rain on us. Not enough to get us wet. Going up the trail, we passed many people coming down and all of the dogs were well behaved. We got them off to the side so others could pass. Of course, it took quite a while to get to the lake but there was no big hurry. At the lake, we pretty much had it to ourselves that late in the day. The young dogs – Molly and Kala mostly – ran in big circles chasing each other and burning off steam. Luna, the twelve year old labradoodle kept up with them for one round. Sky found a stick. Really, she did. We visited and photographed and enjoyed the scenery, knowing soon all of it would be deeply covered in snow and we may not get up there again for many months.

Cutthroat Creek is very los
Cutthroat Lake
Bree and Molly
Bree
12 year old Luna kept up with the youngsters for a little while
Kala, Sky, Luna, Trip, Molly, Bree
Kala and Molly are perfect for each other
I got a stick!
What are you looking at?

Last Week’s Hike

Summer has come to an abrupt end. The good news is that wildfires no longer threaten people and their homes and soon the smoke will be gone from the valley.

Last week Mary and I and our pack of dogs headed for Harts Pass and the Pacific Crest Trail. We had a good hike to Grasshopper Pass, going past many PCT thru hikers who were anxious to keep walking. If everything went well for them, they’d be in Canada, 35 miles away, the next day. A few flowers were still blooming and we heard marmots and pikas and we ate a few huckleberries along the way. We had a little sunshine, some breezes, a little misty rain and ever-changing light. It was really lovely.

huckleberries
Ever-changing light
paintbrush
Buckwheat
Pearly everlasting
larch trees
thru hiker
thru hiker
thru hiker
thru hiker
Hot dog tights?
No one wants to sit next to Sky. Can you see the brown stuff on her shoulder?
The route back to the trailhead
Larch madness season is coming
Molly gets a drink.
Mary taught Luna to get a drink from her hydration pack. Sky would not even try it.

Chain of Lakes trail

Our other nice hike last week, was along the Chain of Lakes trail starting at Artist Point. There are many superlatives written about Artist Point and I’m sure they are all true. I was there a little past the peak of wildflowers and smoke continued to dim my views. I did finally get to see Mt Baker and Mt Shuksan on this day. And there were lots of wildflowers to enjoy. Luna found snow patches for rolling and cooling her feet.

We started the hike in a clockwise direction going to Mazama and Iceberg Lakes before backtracking. I think on another day I would start at Heather Meadows and do the whole loop in a counter clockwise direction. Near the start of the trail I chatted with a young man carrying a snowboard and boots on his back. He was headed for the snow fields on the flanks of Mt Baker. He said he worked at a Montana ski resort in the winter and he liked to ski every month of the year! A true ski bum if there ever was one! He seemed to be living his dream.

There goes the snowboarder
Looking back towards the trailhead
Ahhhh
The Ptarmigan trail goes across that slope
Mazama Lake
Yummers!
Sky enjoyed picking her own huckleberries
Mount Baker
Iceberg Lake. No icebergs.
She swam
She waded
Yellow monkeyflower
Pink monkeyflower
I like these flowers. I should know their name.
I should know these too.
Trail between lakes

It Wasn’t Easy

But it was stunningly beautiful. Easy Pass. It’s another great hike right off of highway 20 through the North Cascades. It starts out in a green, moist forest, something we don’t get to experience very often. That is because it is west of the Cascade Crest where there is more precipitation and it’s not as hot. Much of the trail goes in and out of the forest giving some respite from the sunshine. We had a fair amount of off and on cloud cover in addition to somewhat hazy skies as a result of wildfires. At a certain point the trail really gets to work – sending you up and over seemingly never ending talus slopes. Ok, I’m not in very good shape and the steepness was pretty hard on me, both going up and going down. Even Luna and Sky were pretty tired. But the views were worth it. And there were creeks most of the way so the dogs had plenty of chances to cool themselves.

Fireweed
Lots of hikers out on a Sunday
Ferns growing out of rocks!
Luna’s resting spot
Granite Creek