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August 13, 2000
I love Mount Baker. You can't really see it that well from Seattle, so you have to go there. I fell in love with this volcano last year when I hiked Yellow Aster Butte.
However, you will find barely any pictures of Baker on this page from this trip. Why? Because the road was still closed past the visitors center, and that is where you get the views. So, you'll see pictures from the surrounding area, which is darn cool anyway. The day before, Sunny and I hiked Goat Mountain, and got some Baker pictures there. Sorta. Damn clouds....
We were supposed to hike Heliotrope Ridge and/or Skyline Divide, but I had some problems with my hip and knee, so we opted to just drive around and look at the area. First stop? Waterfall-Freak-Goober-girl had to visit Nooksack (nutsack?) and Wells Creek falls.
| Nooksack Falls. Kinda cool.
Dig the water color. Yay Glacial silt!
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| To
the right is Wells Creek Falls. You can barely see it
from the road, and even the waterfall book mentioned that
you should walk along the creek to get a good view. Walk along... where? Ain't no damn trail! You walk ON THE CREEK BED. Good thing it was running low, and there were plenty of islands to walk on. Some wet spots to cross, but not a problem. Yay Tevas! I just charged right through them, where as those with normal shoes had to jump around and try not to fall. Yay Tevas! There was one spot that was impossible to cross without getting wet. Unless you happen to be with someone who could carry you across it. So, I carried the waterfall-freak across the stream so that we could get this picture. And then back again. What a guy! Everyone say it with me: Tevas rock. Tevas rule. |
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Ok, enough of the waterfalls! Now we get to the really good stuff!! Mountains! Ridges! Volcanoes!!! WOOO HOOO!
This is Table Mountain. Can you tell why?
| Mount Herman. This is the mountain that obscures your view of Baker from the hikes on the north side of Highway 542 until you get about 4000 feet. Kinda purdy, isn't it? |  |
This is Mount Sefrit, from the South Side. Actually, Sefrit is only the first part on the left of the point mountain thing in the middle. The rest of it is the Nooksack Ridge, I believe. There are Glaciers on the north face! Yay!
One of my favorite mountains is Mt. Shuksan. It is also one of the most photographed & painted Mountains in the range. I even have a jigsaw puzzle of it. It is very inspiring and humbling. Check out below to know more about it and Baker. Click on the image to be able to read the text. Sorta.
Once we were done, we needed fooooood. So, we stopped at a local brewery, the North Fork Brewery, Pizzeria, Wedding Chapel, & Beer Shrine!
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BEER
SHRINE!!! YAY! They had hops growing on the sign! They had an excellent IPA. Wonderful pizza. A strange but nice waitress (who I think may have been on of the owners); what more could you ask for??? This will be a regular stop when I am up here. And I still see about 2 more trips up this area this year. |
So, now what? You go back!
