North Cascades, Part I
I'm not sure how I lived in the NW for 8 years without a proper visit to the North Cascades, but somehow I did. The closest we'd been was a drive up to Artist's Point at Mt Baker on the way home from B.C. once. It was so wet we got a hotel that night, and so cloudy we never saw Mt Baker.
It was time to see America's Alps, so we planned to spend the 3rd week of September there. The night before the big trip, Ethan got sick (of course). We figured we'd wait a day to let him rest, but by mid-morning it was clear his cold wasn't slowing him down a whole lot, and he said he wanted to go. We made the 6 hour drive to Mt Baker after lunch to find the campgrounds closed (post labor day and all). Up the rough road past the Yellow Aster Butte trailhead we found a place to camp by the creek. The road was not kind to the car.
The next day we set out for Yellow Aster Butte as a day hike — Ethan said he didn't want to backpack. We generally try not to push him, and certainly not with a cold. Once we got to the butte 3.5 miles in, he didn't want to hike out and the tarns looked awfully inviting for camping. The collage of autumn foliage, mostly huckleberries and other ground cover as stunning as the surrounding peaks.
So I hiked out, threw 3 sleeping bags, pads, a stove, and some food in my pack, drank a beer, and hiked back in. Linette and Ethan picked out a perfect campsite by the tarns and rested. I enjoyed the fast hiking and extra miles, and we had a fantastic evening watching the sunset on Mt Shuksan to the south, and American Border Peak to the north, not to mention the sea of peaks in the distance north of Vancouver.
I'd been considering a climb of Tomyhoi, but dropped that idea with Ethan's cold. It looks like a really fun scramble, so it's going on the to do list. By this point we were already sold on a return visit, figuring a 4 day weekend would easily make the drive worth it. We visited the summit of YAB before hiking out in the morning, and enjoyed expansive views east into the rugged core of the northern unit of the park.
Next up was Artist's Point, where we lunched and hiked up to the beginning of Ptarmigan Ridge for the afternoon. It was fun to finally see Baker up close. Then the drive back to highway 20, and on to Marmblemount to scope out the permit station for morning. Deciding a burger and a shower were in order we ate in town and found a cabin for the night.
It's incredible how quickly a carefully packed car full of gear turns into a disorganized mess, so it was nice to have a place to get organized for the next adventure. Sadly, all my photos from Yellow Aster Butte disappeared from my camera. A major fail, and not something I've experienced before. The photos from my iPhone are generally disappointing, but at least I have something to refer back to.