bigmacbear (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
bigmacbear) wrote2020-10-15 10:49 pm
bigmacbear) wrote2020-10-15 10:49 pm
Road Trip!!! Mt. Baker
Today we made another road trip, this time to the current end of the Mt. Baker Highway (WA 542). We were a bit late getting started but managed to get out of the house just after noon. We made a stop at the Costco gas station and hopped on the I-5 Express Lanes northbound at 112th Street (South Everett Park and Ride). We decided to pick up lunch on the way at Popeye's in Burlington again because it was on the way, and were served at the drive-through by the same cute cub as on our last trip. We bought an 8-piece tenders meal with coleslaw and drinks. Very shortly after that we were in Sedro-Wooley and making our way across town on WA 20, and then navigating a series of roundabouts to exit the town northbound on WA 9. As we headed north we passed through the tiny towns of Acme and Van Zandt. We turned east through yet another roundabout to WA 542, the Mt. Baker Highway, which normally comes to a dead end at Artist Point, high on the mountain. As the radio cut out from the Seattle stations, we ended up tuning in CJAX-FM from Vancouver which is an affiliate of JACK Radio whose tagline is "We play what we want". Just before reaching the entrance to Mt. Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest, we stopped at a roadside restroom in the tiny town of Glacier. At the edge of town is a bar called Chair 9 (because the Mt. Baker ski area has eight numbered chairlifts) which bills itself as the Last Cocktail before ascending the mountain and the First Cocktail after descending.
Our objective was the Heather Meadows Visitor Center, which sounds like it was named for an ingenue character in an almost-but-not-quite racy film. Unfortunately, due to some unstable hillsides, the highway was closed off with gates at the Bagley Lakes Loop parking lot just east of the Heather Meadows Base Area, where snow-removal equipment is stored. We parked in the massive lot, ate some of the chicken and decided to save the rest of the meal for dinner at home.
That settled, we walked around the lot and got pictures of the mountain peaks including Mt. Shuksan, Panorama Dome (the primary ski hill), and Table Mountain. The peak of Mount Baker isn't visible from the lot, being hidden behind Mount Herman which, although not as tall, is far closer as it sits just across Bagley Creek from the edge of the lot. I also got pictures of the nearby lakes, and the heather for which the meadows were actually named. We didn't manage to get a shot in in time to pick up the cute, muscular hiker who walked into frame behind us as we took selfies with Mt. Shuksan between us. As we headed back toward our car, Gary spotted a car being driven by a gentleman about our age or slightly older, who had left his hiking/ski poles leaning against his fender as he began to back out of his parking space. Luckily Gary got his attention and the gentleman retrieved his poles and stashed them in the car.
Next we walked toward the far end of the lot where the snowplows were parked to get some closer shots of the peaks beyond. I got a couple pictures of Gary in front of the massive Caterpillar snowplow. We then returned to the car and I went to use the pit toilets at the other edge of the lot. A couple of children were playing around, but settled on the other restroom after, I soon discovered, being thoroughly disgusted by the smell of a pit toilet with the lid left open. I made sure to keep my mask on and to close the lid before I left.
On our way down the hill, Gary took some pictures and video of the incredible views. I drove slowly, and pulled aside a few times to let faster traffic by us. I noticed a side road that led to Nooksack Falls on the ascent, and suggested we stop on the way down, to which Gary agreed. The side road was a single lane with turnouts, which led to a parking area and a short trail at the bottom of the hill. We parked and looked over the kiosk built by an Eagle Scout for his project, then made our way gingerly down the trail. I had to pause for a moment because I wasn't sure of my footing in my brand-new walking shoes, so we let a family group with a bearish papa pass us. I took some shots through the protective fence before reaching a lower section we could shoot over. The falls are quite impressive, especially considering a good chunk of the stream has been diverted for hydroelectric power through a metal pipe running past the parking area. As we prepared to leave, a large South Asian family made their way down the hill whence we had come. We returned to the car and were soon back on the highway.
We passed through Van Zandt and Acme again on the return trip, and got pictures of the signs we missed. Also, we ended up following a biker from just past Acme all the way into Sedro-Wooley. Fortunately, our return trip detoured through the western part of Sedro-Wooley instead of staying on WA 20 through Burlington, so that avoided some traffic getting back to I-5. Approaching Marysville, we stopped at the Smokey Point rest area, where we spotted a tall dude with a ginger beard doing a series of stretches on the bench in front of the car just as Gary was leaving to use the bathroom. I later saw his travel companions, a lighter-haired dude who could have been his brother, and a thin young lady around the same age. We ended up getting home just after seven.
Our objective was the Heather Meadows Visitor Center, which sounds like it was named for an ingenue character in an almost-but-not-quite racy film. Unfortunately, due to some unstable hillsides, the highway was closed off with gates at the Bagley Lakes Loop parking lot just east of the Heather Meadows Base Area, where snow-removal equipment is stored. We parked in the massive lot, ate some of the chicken and decided to save the rest of the meal for dinner at home.
That settled, we walked around the lot and got pictures of the mountain peaks including Mt. Shuksan, Panorama Dome (the primary ski hill), and Table Mountain. The peak of Mount Baker isn't visible from the lot, being hidden behind Mount Herman which, although not as tall, is far closer as it sits just across Bagley Creek from the edge of the lot. I also got pictures of the nearby lakes, and the heather for which the meadows were actually named. We didn't manage to get a shot in in time to pick up the cute, muscular hiker who walked into frame behind us as we took selfies with Mt. Shuksan between us. As we headed back toward our car, Gary spotted a car being driven by a gentleman about our age or slightly older, who had left his hiking/ski poles leaning against his fender as he began to back out of his parking space. Luckily Gary got his attention and the gentleman retrieved his poles and stashed them in the car.
Next we walked toward the far end of the lot where the snowplows were parked to get some closer shots of the peaks beyond. I got a couple pictures of Gary in front of the massive Caterpillar snowplow. We then returned to the car and I went to use the pit toilets at the other edge of the lot. A couple of children were playing around, but settled on the other restroom after, I soon discovered, being thoroughly disgusted by the smell of a pit toilet with the lid left open. I made sure to keep my mask on and to close the lid before I left.
On our way down the hill, Gary took some pictures and video of the incredible views. I drove slowly, and pulled aside a few times to let faster traffic by us. I noticed a side road that led to Nooksack Falls on the ascent, and suggested we stop on the way down, to which Gary agreed. The side road was a single lane with turnouts, which led to a parking area and a short trail at the bottom of the hill. We parked and looked over the kiosk built by an Eagle Scout for his project, then made our way gingerly down the trail. I had to pause for a moment because I wasn't sure of my footing in my brand-new walking shoes, so we let a family group with a bearish papa pass us. I took some shots through the protective fence before reaching a lower section we could shoot over. The falls are quite impressive, especially considering a good chunk of the stream has been diverted for hydroelectric power through a metal pipe running past the parking area. As we prepared to leave, a large South Asian family made their way down the hill whence we had come. We returned to the car and were soon back on the highway.
We passed through Van Zandt and Acme again on the return trip, and got pictures of the signs we missed. Also, we ended up following a biker from just past Acme all the way into Sedro-Wooley. Fortunately, our return trip detoured through the western part of Sedro-Wooley instead of staying on WA 20 through Burlington, so that avoided some traffic getting back to I-5. Approaching Marysville, we stopped at the Smokey Point rest area, where we spotted a tall dude with a ginger beard doing a series of stretches on the bench in front of the car just as Gary was leaving to use the bathroom. I later saw his travel companions, a lighter-haired dude who could have been his brother, and a thin young lady around the same age. We ended up getting home just after seven.