High Pass Trail 2014

Twin Lakes, Winchester/High Pass trailhead

Today sixteen Senior Trailblazers gathered to hike up to Winchester Mountain, or maybe the High Pass Trail, depending on how many of us showed up. The Mt. Baker Wilderness Area requires that all groups be comprised of fewer than 12 hikers, so we decided that we would break into two groups, one going up to Winchester Mountain, and the rest of us (today it was four of us) continue up to the High Pass Trail. Since I had hiked up Winchester earlier this summer, I opted to go where I hadn't been before, the High Pass Trail.

Karen with a halo

Neither of these are long hikes: I think it's only four miles round trip to the top of Winchester, and just a little bit more than that to High Pass. But today was a simply perfect day, whichever route one took. Everyone who had never been to the top of Winchester Mountain went that direction, and we rejoined everyone at a predetermined time at Twin Lakes later. The blueberries were so profuse that we ate to our heart's content and still couldn't keep up! Where are the bears?

Peggy picking blueberries

It was impossible not to stop and pick blueberries to pop into your mouth. Each one had a slightly different taste, and I kept thinking I would find the perfect one and stop, but I never did. You can see in the picture below why I couldn't stop.

So many blueberries!

Mercy! By the time we had reached the top of High Pass, I noticed that I wasn't, for some reason, a bit hungry and anxious for lunch. And then we saw the view. Another fine portrait of Mt. Baker, one that you just don't see all that often. From this vantage point, it looks lopped off flat on the top, but from where I am sitting now (my living room), it looks completely round. Here's my view this afternoon:

Mt. Baker from High Pass

What a beautiful mountain! I will never tire of taking pictures of her, and I hope I'll have many more years of hikes in the wilderness to capture this mountain in all of her different characters. Today it was a perfect blend of temperature, clouds, fall colors, and serenity. And then it was time to start back down and join our other Winchester cohorts. It wasn't easy, because we kept having to stop and sample more, well, you know, blueberries.

Al in Blueberry Heaven

It was a really perfect day in so many ways. We only hiked somewhere around four or five miles, with a measly 1,600 feet of elevation gain and loss, which means I am sitting here at my laptop feeling like a million bucks, not tired, and filled with so much gratitude for another fine day in the wilderness. The only part I missed is not being with the larger group and spending time with my other Senior Trailblazers. They managed to have a great time without me, as I learned when we all met up at the end. We headed down to Graham's in Glacier to share some ice cream memories, and now we are in our own abodes, happy to have been on a great hike today.
:-)