Northern Washington

Out of the way on a dead end road

I enjoy looking at maps to find unique places, out of the way places that are less visited than the more commonly known icons. Certainly Mount Rainier is spectacular. If you have not been there, I encourage you to go. Spend a few days marveling at the glacial covered volcano, the wildflowers, the copious amount of snow that accumulates on its slopes. There is a good reason it’s a National Park. It is truly special. Likewise for Olympic National Park, or the North Cascades National Park. Each has exceptional topography, vegetation, and wildlife that is well worth the effort to go see.

And there are lesser known spots that are no less spectacular. Washington Highway 542 heads east out of Bellingham, Washington and ends at a large parking lot at an elevation of 5,046 ft (1,538 m) in the north Cascades near Mount Baker and Mount Shuksan. Because it is easily accessible by car, you can find a fair amount of people at this location on most summer days. That is once the snow has melted, which frequently does not occur until late July. And while the parking lot and nearby trails can be crowded, take a hike a half mile or more away from the parking lot and you will find solitude. Upon arriving at the parking lot, the view of Mount Baker shown below is just a short walk away from your vehicle.

It really is quite a sight, Mount Baker so close you feel you can reach out and touch its slopes. And indeed, it is close. From this vantage point just a short walk from the parking lot Mount Baker is just over 7 miles (11.5 km) away.

But the view of Mount Baker isn’t the only sight to see. Wander around, the views are endless.

On our visit in late July the weather was unusually warm with clear skies. When we arrived on the first day, the snow was piled tens of feet (3-6 m) deep. Each day under the intense sunshine, the snow was quickly being reduced. The photo below was taken a half hour before sunset from a small unnamed pond overlooking Mount Shuksan. Yes, the mosquitos were bothersome. Yes, it was still an incredible view sitting on a rock at the waters edge, no wind, no sound, just me and thoughts of what a beautiful world we live in coursing through my brain.

This is a fairly remote location with wilderness on all sides. And since it was clear, it was mid summer, and it is at a modestly high elevation, I thought I’d try my luck with some night photography. And indeed the stars were brilliant. But looking to the south and southwest at the Milky Way, the lights of the Seattle metro area were plainly visible. None the less, it was an interesting 2 hours standing at the edge of the slope, a warm south wind flowing up the hill rustling the pine trees, looking across the valley at Mount Baker with the lights of Seattle 90 miles (145 km) in the distance.

And there are lakes, lots of lakes. The Cascades are not well known for their alpine lakes, but they do exist. Here, one of the easier accessible lakes with a wonderful view of Mount Shuksan.

We spent several days near this location. Enough time to come back and traverse several trails. Under the warm late July sun the sun was melting the snow at a rapid clip. A short 1.3 mile (2.1 km) trail took us to a small peak at 5,235 ft (1,596 m) which put us only 6 miles (9.7 km) from the summit of Mount Baker shown below.

The Cascades come by their name for one obviously good reason. There are copious rivers and streams that cascade out of the mountains due to the copious amounts of rain and snow. So no trip worth its effort to the Cascades is complete without at least one stop to see a raging torrent of a river. In this case, it was the raging torrent of a small stream. I am not sure if this stream has a name, it was fairly small, but it did flow off the north slopes of Yellow Aster Butte, so what the heck, I’ll call this stream Yellow Aster Creek.

How do I find out of the way places? I’ll explain my process of seeking out unique places in a future post. If you have any comments, suggestions, questions. Please ask.

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