Thursday, August 22, 2013

Park Butte 2013

On the trail to Park Butte
Ten Senior Trailblazers (well, nine Trailblazers and Char, Rita's friend from Illinois) piled into two full cars and drove to the trailhead at Schreiber's Meadow, a long drive from Bellingham. It's the beginning of three different trails that we regularly hike during the summer: Scott Paul (which we did three weeks ago), Railroad Grade, and Park Butte, which we hiked today. This is a four-mile-long trek to an old lookout, which is still maintained by the Skagit Alpine Club and can accommodate overnighters. It was built in 1933. The Park Butte link will tell you all about it.
The lookout at Park Butte
We ran into two people who had stayed up there last night, and they said it was incredibly beautiful, with the full moon and clear skies. There were many other hikers other than us on the trails during this beautiful summer's day. Although it looks like a difficult climb up to the lookout, the trail takes us around to the left and the only scrambling to get to it was the last ten feet or so, well worn by many previous hikers.
Up the last few feet to the lookout
Once at the lookout, we pulled out our lunches and enjoyed the incredible 360-degree views. This railing goes all the way around the lookout, and although it's a bit exposed and gives one the feeling of vertigo, it's actually quite safe.
Diane, Char, and Rita having lunch
I sure did enjoy my lunch, after getting awfully hungry on the way up. Sitting on the porch and looking down at the views and across at Mt. Baker, I realized how lucky we all are to have the ability (and good leadership) to get us all to these wonderful places in the beautiful Pacific Northwest.
View from the top
Just before we began our return trip, the clouds began to come in and provided us filtered sunlight instead of full sun. It caused the temperature to drop a few degrees, and since we were headed down instead of up, it was downright pleasant as we began our trek back go the cars. First, however, I talked everyone into letting me take a picture using my self-timer.
Char, Mike, Amy, Rita, Peggy, Jonelle, Diane, me, Al, Steve
Although you can't see our beautiful backdrop, it was simply stunning, even with the clouds as they rolled in. The views we had of Mt. Baker just continued to amaze us all, and I snapped picture after picture, but I think this might be the best one I got.
Lupines and Mt. Baker (picture enhanced by Kay)
Although the flat light made Mt. Baker sort of blend into the sky, the lupines in front jumped out at me and MADE me take this picture. I was really impressed with how much the flowers added to the picture itself. The temperature was perfect, and the trip down seemed almost effortless. However, we did notice that there were many groups of climbers on Mt. Baker, and Steve pulled out his binoculars so we could check them out.
Gazing at the climbing groups on Mt. Baker
There must have been a couple of dozen of climbers on the mountain today, and lots of our fellow hikers were headed to the three destinations one could reach without technical equipment. It was a busy day out there, but one I didn't mind sharing with everyone who was on the trails with us today. Oh, and there was one more exciting thing we discovered: the wild blueberries are just now getting ripe!
How many blueberries do you see?
Yes, it was not easy to hike back down the trail without stopping now and then to sample these incredibly tasty blueberries. I thought about maybe coming back someday soon and gathering as many as I could put into a basket, but of course I won't do that, because now here I am back at home and drinking my wine, and the last thing in the world that I want to do is get up and go out!

Another wonderful day in the wilderness with lots of good friends, good food, and just about perfect weather. We climbed over 2,000 feet up and down, and hiked almost eight miles to give us a day we won't forget any time soon.
:-)

22 comments:

  1. the lupines are beautiful! i sure like that 2nd to last photo of the backs of your climbing buds looking at the mountain. looks like a great day - except i'd have had heebie-jeebies on that lookout! :)

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  2. Days like this are what keep hikers coming back over and over. It's always a thrill to sit with your legs dangling over a cliff and what what's below!

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  3. I love my camera+ app. Many thanks for writing about it, Wouldn't have known it existed otherwise.

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  4. Oh my gosh! And you got to eat blueberries on top of seeing that incredible view? Wow! I love it!

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  5. I'm pretty sure the Pacific Northwest is paradise. You climb & share the best places, DJan. WOW -the view with those lupines!
    PS: Steve looks very tall!

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  6. How absolutely beautiful. Thank you so very much.

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  7. oh i would have been all over sampling those blueberries...can you imagine sleeping up there...i bet that view was amazing at night...wow...

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  8. Stunning views one would never tire of DJan - every hike different, depending on the season, right. We just had a lovely home made blueberry pie, quite thick with BB and home made ice cream on the side. Looking at your photos and patches of blue berries just makes me think your I could fill that basket and sample at the same time :) - and still have enough to make a pie.

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  9. You sure are posting later than usual for a Thursday, but what lovely colorful pictures! Such a hike would give me an appetite, too. Glad you enjoyed the hike, DJan.

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  10. You are indeed very lucky! And this one looks like a particularly beautiful hike and lookout.

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  11. DJan, that looks like a really great hike. And the picture alone of the hikers sitting on the porch at the top gives me a feeling of vertigo.
    What a great day!

    As for the blueberries, when I enlarged my photo and counted, I came up with 13.

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  12. Wow, those lunch views were indeed amazing. That makes the food taste better.

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  13. When I read your hiking columns, I want to go out and find a hiking group in my own area. It looks so amazing!

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  14. Funny, my stomach dropped the instant I looked at your photo of the three hikers lunching at the lookout. Imagine the vertigo I'd have at the actual spot!

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  15. I'm not sure I could eat lunch outside up there! I'd be woozy! I love when you get some closeups and the berries looked delicious. I'm surprised you didn't run into any bears! What a great day with wonderful people. :)

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  16. That is some lookout! and it didn't look all that safe to me. Still, you were all smiling, weren't you so it must be ok. Beautiful weather and lovely pics.

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  17. When I see photos like yours I realize just what I miss with my fear of heights. I have missed some amazing views. Thanks for the safe view via photo.
    Lupines in front of Mt. Baker is a beautiful shot.

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  18. I love seeing the pictures from your hikes - you live in an exceptionally beautiful part of the country. Next time, bring a container with you to gather the blueberries.

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  19. Wow! You were up there! Alpine meadows, rings of mountain top views, Mt Baker close enough to reach out and touch, blue sky and blue lupine and blue berries. What a day!

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  20. Pretty blueberries I counted 10! I enjoyed the photo of the Lupines...very pretty! Good looking group today. Your lunch perch on that tower would not be for me:)

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  21. Wow.. what a gorgeous spot. I love the view you had from the lunch lookout and the lupines image. Simply beautiful. And that's a fine timed portrait.

    I was not the least bit surprised to know that at the end of the day, you'd park butte in chair and have wine. ;)

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  22. Those views of Mt Baker are gorgeous. I think spending the night in that little shelter would be wonderful. Can you imagine how clear the sky would be with no man-made lights to dull it's brilliance? I miss seeing those kind of skies.

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