Mt. Baker - Snoqualmie NF, Washington
July 19, 2023
Northward we drove, almost to Canada, before turning east to enter Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest in the North Cascade Mountain Range of Washington. We took our time driving and made a long stop at a Walmart to do some grocery shopping and sit in the parking lot to soak in some solar to recharge our batteries. They almost made it to 100%, but not quite. We also picked up a new phone for Julie at an Amazon box along the route (yay!). Once we got past the Seattle Metro area, the scenery was quite bucolic.
We were happy to find that our campsite was considerably easier to back into than the previous one, and we got parked without issue.
Our campground was right on the banks of the north fork of the Nooksack River. Although we didn't have a view of the river from our campsite, we could hear it. The next day, we hiked the trail along the river that began right off the campground (5.5 miles).
The little day use area in the campground
North fork of the Nooksack River
Look around from Rick's rock
Look around
On Friday, we drove about 40 minutes away to hike the spectacular Chain Lake Loop Trail (7.5 miles). It was pretty much non-stop scenery the whole time. Rick has declared it his new favorite hike since retirement. Julie agrees. Fair warning--lots of pictures to wade through here. 😁
The trailhead was way up the mountain
We weren't quite sure where the trail was, and the guy in the background didn't look like he knew either
So, we just headed off in what seemed like the right direction
And soon enough, we found the trail
Look around at the trail and views
The visitor center with a nice view of Table Mountain. We hiked to the top of that mountain a couple of days later.
We passed several pretty lakes along the trail
Look around
Mt. Shuksan
Look around
Mt. Baker just around the corner
At Herman Saddle, there were lots of people milling about, playing in the snow, doing yoga, and just taking in the expansive views of both Mt. Baker and Mt. Shuksan
Look around
We stopped for lunch and enjoyed "his and hers" views
More snow crossing
Iceberg Lake (aptly named)
Hayes Lake
We sat here for quite a while, just taking in this beautiful lake
Look around at our nice resting spot
It wasn't immediately obvious where the "facilities" were
Fount it!
The (partial) view from the toilet
Iceberg Lake, up close
We decided that Iceberg Lake looked more spectacular from above
We had lots of water crossings, but nothing that got our feet wet
More lakes
Look around at the trail and views
And more snow
It was pretty steep here
This post has too many photospheres in it to work so you need to continue on to part two by clicking here:
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