One
of our favorite places - Heather Meadows and
Artist Point - opened early this year.
We waited a few weeks to *ahem*
give the rest of the snow time to melt, and
headed there on Saturday July 14th, hoping to
walk the trail along the edge of Artist
Point.
It was a brilliantly-sunny clear and warm
day. Although it did not turn out quite
as we'd planned, it was great to be on top of
the world again.
From the Washington State Department of
Transportation
Artist Point is located at the very end of
Mount Baker Highway, State Route 542 and
boasts 360-degree views of Mount Shuksan and
Mount Baker, as well as access to a variety
of trails.
The road to Artist Point, 2.7 miles long and
more than 5,000 feet above sea level, is
typically buried under snow and closed
October through June.
The road to Artist Point typically opens in
July and remains open until the first
substantial snowfall of the year, which
usually comes in late September or early
October. |
Whoa Nellie - look at the snow in the parking lot at
Artist Point!
The hills and the trails are buried under many
feet of snow.
Tim climbed to the top of one of the hills
overlooking the beautiful Mount Shuksan.
And here's the lovely Mount Baker, gleaming in the
bright sunshine.
The
arrow shows the smoke from a small forest fire at
Baker Lake, another of our favorite places.
A couple of young snowboarders were building a jump.
Back
to the parking lot we went, deciding to head down to
Austin Pass to check out the trails there.
Some of them there are partially cleared.
Here are the Bagley Lakes. Many trails wind
around the hillside (and snow).
Note to self: beware of the Wild Goose
Trail.
It should be renamed the Wild Goose Chase
Trail - I went in many circles.
Back
and forth, up and down - I covered a lot of
ground in the mid-day heat.
Alpine Lilies grew nearby - so delicate and pretty.
Heather
bloomed everywhere too.
Here's
where I had a Big Fall. I hadn't brought my
hiking stick. It would have made all the
difference. My feet went out from under me and
I went down like a ton of bricks. For a few brief
seconds I felt like a turtle on its back but I
managed to get to my feet. I
found a rock to sit on and watched my hiking pants
dry within 10 minutes.
We
had a picnic lunch near a tree where a pair of Ravens
squawked away at each other.
On
the way down to Picture Lake we had much better looks
at Mount Shuksan.
A
gentle breeze stirred the reflection a little bit.
It
was a very nice day despite all the brilliant
white snow which messed up our hiking and my
photo-taking a bit. Time
to head home. Goodbye to the
mountains. See you soon!