Rainy Yellow Aster Butte

On the Yellow Aster Butte trail

Well, color me VERY surprised when eleven Senior Trailblazers showed up for our annual hike up the Yellow Aster Butte trail on a very rainy day, projected to stay that way for the whole day! I expected no more than Al, me, and maybe a few other regulars. Seven of us met at the Senior Center and then met the Ferndale carload at the Glacier Ranger Station. Everyone was prepared for a wet hike, and it was already raining, a nice soft mist.

All but three of us pictured at the Ranger Station

When we got to the trailhead, it was also surprising that we saw several other people getting ready to hike up to the top as well, since it was not, well, ideal hiking conditions. It was quite warm, and a few of us didn't put our raincoats all the way on, since we knew we would be working reasonably hard as we moved upwards. The rain was pretty continuous, although light for most of the time, until we got a view of our destination, Yellow Aster Butte.

Looking at the Butte, in the center of the picture

As we trudged up the trail, the rain let up for part of the journey, and there were still plenty of pretty wildflowers to see: fireweed, lupine, and Indian paintbrush. It was obvious, though, that we are near the end of the season up here in the High Country.

Al and Diane on the trail

The weather wasn't getting any better as we hiked, and once we left the valley and started up into the more exposed areas, the wind picked up. It was time for a conference.

No view, and wondering where to stop for lunch

We decided to try and find a place out of the wind and hope for the best as we stopped for lunch. The idea of making it to the top was nixed by everybody. We just didn't want to spend another hour or so working to get to the top and have (1) no view and (2) no place to huddle out of the rain and wind. So here is our view from the lunch spot we chose:

Beautiful in its own way

While we stopped for lunch, we saw another group of four hikers heading back down. I asked them if they had made it to the top, but they said no, the wind and cold got more intense as they climbed, so they retreated and stopped for lunch at a lower elevation, near us. After a rather quick lunch, we headed back down, leaving the summit for another day.

Mt. Shuksan is somewhere under those clouds

After we started down, the rain pretty much stopped, and we almost got a view or two of Mt. Shuksan and Mt. Baker, which are both usually prominent on the skyline. If you are wondering what we didn't see today, here's a link to our hike in 2011. But today was just fine, in its own way. Every single time I head out into the wilderness, I take all the appropriate gear, and I know I will be accompanied up there by my fellow Trailblazers, and that it will be an adventure, no matter what.

It was still very beautiful, even in the rain

Today we didn't see the sun until after the hike, when we reached Glacier, the place where we gathered to start our day. However, by the time we got back to the Senior Center, the rain had returned. Here are the pluses: no bugs (they know better than to be out on a day like this), cool hiking temperatures, and good company. The minuses: we didn't make it to the top, it was raining and windy, and it was over way too soon!

Oh, and one more thing: we heard from Steve that the Forest Service checked out the fire we reported on Monday, and it was still burning and had grown to twice the size we described! They contained it and now all is well. I'm glad we did our part to keep the fire from growing, although considering the recent rain, it probably wouldn't have had much of a chance to become a real problem.
:-)