Skyline Divide 2014

Lupine and bistort flowers

Today was expected to be partly cloudy (it was) and cooler than what we have experienced recently, when nineteen of us (nineteen!) headed up to Skyline Divide in the Mt. Baker Wilderness. I just reviewed previous years' posts, and the most we've ever had on this hike before today was 16. The wilderness requires groups to be fewer than 12, so we broke into two groups, and I led the "faster" group up the trail while Al took the "slower" group. We had five new hikers that we had never met before, and they all joined Al's group.

Mt. Baker with her hat on

After climbing a bit more than two miles, you break out into this wonderful meadow with views all around, with trails dotting the area going every which-way. We decided we would hike over to the ridge and follow it for a couple more miles or so before stopping for lunch. We knew that Al's group would be coming up the same way, and that we would probably meet them at some point.

Walking carefully across a traverse

It was a truly lovely day, and all the hikers in my group were well known to me, so there weren't really any slowpokes or surprises. We decided we would hike until noon and then stop for lunch. That's just what we did. The views were incredible, as we knew they would be, and when we found our lunch spot, a light breeze on our sweaty bodies made it almost cold, but nobody put on any more clothes (except for Mikey, that is).

Carol, Chris, Peggy, Rita, Ward and Mikey

We enjoyed a leisurely lunch and then turned to begin our return trip. On the way back, we ran into the others that had hiked about three miles to join us. We, the other group, only went about a half-mile further. We pretended not to know them, since we were supposed to be separated, but frankly at this point nobody cared all that much. We were having too good a time to worry about a little thing like rules and regulations.

Jacqueline, Peggy, Carol (or are they wildlife?)

We decided maybe it was a good idea to break up into groups based on car passengers, so that each group could hike down at its own pace and we wouldn't look too suspicious. It worked out great, and nine of us (two cars out of five) were left to travel back the way we had come, and we were even legal!

Pink heather surrounded by white heather

Have I mentioned how amazing the flowers are right now? I saw this pink heather standing out amongst the gorgeous white heather, and I am thrilled to see that maybe you, my reader, can get just a glimpse of how beautiful it was on Skyline Divide today. By next week it will look different, but we all felt more than a bit grateful that we were there at this point in time.

Tightening our shoelaces

A trick that many of us know is to stop and re-tighten one's shoelaces before beginning the two-mile trek downward from the ridge. (It keeps your toes from running up against the end of your boot.) That's what we were doing in this picture before heading back to our cars. In a way, it was difficult to leave this beautiful place, but we knew that we had a long drive back home, and it was already long past midday. I know it's hard for some to realize it, but we are losing three minutes of daylight every single day at this latitude.

So off we went to our respective homes, and I have just finished my wine as I finish up this post, with around another seven miles and 2,500 feet under my belt, feeling quite satisfied and happy with another wonderful day spent in the wilderness with good weather and good friends.
:-)