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! 
 

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