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 ...