Church Mountain summit

Steve, Doug, Amy and Carl, Jonelle, Mike

While we were waiting for Al to finish getting ready, I asked the Trailblazers for a picture with the trailhead sign. Eight of us went up to Church Mountain today, this time to gain the summit. Last time we went, the meadow was covered with snow. It was Fourth of July weekend, and since we were not scheduled to hike on Thursday (a holiday), we went on a Tuesday. Today, there was not only no snow in the meadow, all the flowers have come and gone since early July.

Emerging from forest into full sunlight

This was one of the driest hikes up to the top of Church Mountain I can remember. But there was one thing that we've been seeing on various hikes lately: lots of blueberries! They are so abundant that again I lagged behind the others as I sampled them. Whether you call them huckleberries or blueberries, they were incredibly sweet and delicious.

Doug and blueberries

As you can see, I was not alone in my quest to taste the perfect blueberry. Between the sunshine on this part of the hike and the blueberries, we took our time getting toward the top of the pass. After awhile, the heat and humidity began to slow some of us down, while others wended their way up the switchbacks a bit faster. (You all know what switchbacks are, right? If not, learn about them here.)

Slowly but surely we gained altitude

It was very dry and places where we usually see snow were free of any moisture at all. You can see in the above picture how dry everything is. But finally we got to the summit, which requires us to scramble on a very exposed stretch (not long, maybe fifty feet). We all gained the summit except for Mike, who has been there previously and didn't want to attempt it today. A nice fellow hiker, Eric from North Carolina, took this picture of the rest of us on the summit, where we could see 360-degree views in every direction.

Doug, Amy, Carl, Al, Jonelle, Steve, and me

Mt. Baker and Mt. Shuksan were prominent as we gazed around at the view. There once was a lookout on the spot where we are standing, but it's been gone for a long time. To think that supplies were hauled up to this spot regularly is rather amazing to contemplate. Today the only thing that remains of the lookout is the flat spot, and some lumber lying in the bushes just below the summit. Looking the other direction, we could see Kidney Lake (on the right).  Al said he cannot remember another time when there was no snow anywhere around the lake.

Kidney Lake on the right; I don't know the name of the other one

It was hot, although a gentle breeze blew through every once in awhile while we were on the summit, but there was not even a little bit of shade while we ate our lunch. I think most of us didn't want to linger too long up there. I did get this wonderful picture of Amy with Mt. Baker behind her.

Amy and Mt. Baker

By the time I took this picture, we were just a minute or two from heading back down, with the treacherous fifty feet uppermost in our minds. But we made it without incident and began our trudge back down to the meadow.

Stocking up with fresh water at the stream

Both Al and Steve brought water filters so we could safely drink the stream water without worrying about picking up any bugs. We managed to drink all of our water on the way up to the summit and our return trip. From here, we had another three miles or so before we were back at the cars. Although it is pretty late, I am now happily sitting in my chair, my wine glass beside me, and another wonderful day in the beautiful Pacific Northwest wilderness under my belt. It was about nine miles and almost 4,000 feet, meaning this week I've hiked 19 miles. I guess it's all right for me to be tired at this moment, almost 7:00pm on a Thursday, after a great day!
:-)