Yellow Aster Butte

Jay and I did a hike up to Yellow Aster Butte as an overnight last weekend. We typically play along Rt. 20, which is south of Mt. Baker because it is slightly closer to home for us. As a result we are not as familiar with the hikes along the road north of Mt. Baker (Rt. 542) that you access from Bellingham. My friend and co-worker, Courtney, suggested this hike to us as an overnight. WOW - this hike really delivered all the impressive views you could dream of including Mt. Baker, Shuksan, and American Border Peak. Although it isn't very obvious, you can see both Shuksan (second peak from the left) and Baker (washed out...whoops) in this shot with Jay.

Shuksan was the view we had right from our tent! 

This hike is clearly popular with day hikers and backpackers alike and there were at least ten tents set up in the camping area when we arrived. We steered clear of the entire crowd to find solitude by just hiking past everyone further south by about a 1/4 mile. We had the place almost all to ourselves minus one other couple so far away that we basically forgot they were there. Our only other guests were horseflies and marmots. I liked the marmots better.

Not a bad place to camp (our tent is the white blob in the middle) - and to make things even better we didn't need our anti-bug headnets! The entire hike was a relatively short uphill trek of about four miles, which meant we got here early and had time to drink a bottle of wine (2008 Merlot from Lopez Island Vineyards) and contemplate the view! The wildflowers were starting to bloom, the snowfields that we had to cross were soft and fun rather than slippery and scary, and the sun was shining on us the entire time. Wahoo!

 Alpenglow on Mt. Baker from our campsite

 Julie, Shuksan, and fading alpenglow

Birders! I think we have identified these female birds correctly, but I'd love to know if we are right. This is a female blue grouse right? She was big, found lower in elevation in the forest, and hanging on a tree while watching over her little ones. No feathers on her feet or stripes on her breast as the spruce grouse have....
 

Female white-tailed ptarmigan? Tiny, high in elevation, feathers on her feet, and happy on the snow! Also watching over her fluff balls....photos of the chicks can be seen in our album (link at the end of the blog).

 American Border Peak (the peak to the right in the distance) and lupine

The next morning we hiked up to the top of Yellow Aster Butte before heading back down, down, down to our car. What a view from the top! Far reaching panoramas going deep into the North Cascades and Canada....it was stunning.

The end of the hike gave us a great excuse to go to one of our favorite breweries in the coastal WA area - The North Fork Brewery!  Nothing could be better than happily worked legs, pizza, and a tasty IPA in the belly.

 More photos here toward the bottom of the album:
https://picasaweb.google.com/111221596171793333099/July2013?authkey=Gv1sRgCPua6NPqocm4NA&noredirect=1