Days 115 and 116 - North Cascades Mount Baker

After a relaxing morning of coffee and TV in bed, followed by a nice breakfast, I drove Bill and Roman to the airport and drove north toward the North Cascades mountains.

I took care of a few chores in Seattle before leaving the city: food resupply at Costco, oil change and brake check. My first stop in the North Cascades was the Mount Baker area. I had seen Mount Baker, the white sentinel, from way back in Vancouver and was excited to see it up close. But I didn't have time today... Instead I saw the lake and settled in to a campground to convert the van back to a camper and get organized.

I woke up the next morning feeling a bit lazy. I drove around the lake for an hour taking in the various viewpoints and then found a shady spot to take a midday nap. Finally motivated to hike at 4pm, I drove up a winding dirt road to Mount Baker. The hike up to Park Butte was pretty, going through an alpine meadow and then steeply up a dense forest.

I had low expectations for this hike but they were blown away once I turned up the Railroad Grade trail towards a climbers camp near one of Baker's glaciers. The trail went up a narrow ridgeline, constantly charging up closer to Baker. And what views!!

Mount Baker on the right. Happy hiker on the left:)

Panarama looking out over the Cascades. I think I saw Mount Rainier 75 miles away.

As I continued to climb, the views got even better. This range, curled blue above the green forest trees, caught my eye.

And then, at the very top, just below the climber camp, while looking west, I saw the ocean and islands-- maybe Vancouver. Epic!

The North Cascades are vast and beautiful; this sunbathing marmot (on the rock) agreed.

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