A bit of everything at Lake Ann

First glimpse of Lake Ann today

Yes, I know it's late for my blog post, but I just got home after a long day in the High Country. Only nine Senior Trailblazers showed up, probably because the weather forecast was for rain, but it kept getting pushed later in the day. Still, you might notice that because of the drought, a hike we took two years ago, almost to the day, shows a much larger Lake Ann. We need all the rain we can get, so none of us would have been unhappy if it had turned out to be a wet day.

Climbing the rocks to Lake Ann

The reason this hike is considered difficult is because you descend 800 feet to a valley at the beginning, cross the valley, then climb a long rocky traverse to Lake Ann and the back side of Mt. Shuksan. This must all be reversed when you return to the starting point. It's sort of uphill both ways. It was overcast for most of the day, but every once in awhile we would see patches of blue and get a dose of sunshine.

Jacqueline and Peggy on the trail

As you can see in this picture, it was a beautiful climb, with fall colors everywhere, and us needing very little to keep us warm as we hiked. At any minute we expected the heavens to open up and drench us (we were ready), but instead the clouds came and went and we stayed mostly dry.

Mt. Baker partially obscured

As we climbed higher, we got some wonderful views of Mt. Baker (Komo Kulshan), with Al and Doug in this picture at the head of our group of nine. The sky was so grey at this point that even if you could have seen the top of the mountain, it would have blended in. But it was still stunning, and nobody had felt even one raindrop by this point.

The glacier on the back of Mt. Shuksan

And then we reached the top, where we saw that first glimpse of Lake Ann, and to the left the back of Mt. Shuksan with its glacier, much diminished from past years, but still magnificent. You can see the top of the mountain shrouded in fog, and plenty of red foliage in the foreground.

The Trailblazers on the left

And then it was time for lunch. We stopped here, gazing at the beauty all around us, getting the occasional ray of sunshine as we enjoyed the splendor of our surroundings. We didn't stay very long, less than half an hour, before we turned around and began our return journey.

Me in front of Mt. Shuksan

I asked Carol to take a picture of me in front of the glacier, and this turned out quite well, I think. (That's why you're seeing it, of course.) I put my raincoat on for warmth, but at this point we were all getting just a bit chilled from the breeze and altitude. We packed up and headed back down. And up.

Hillside colors

When we reached the cars, it was 4:00pm, after a long day in the beautiful wilderness that we are so privileged to appreciate and enjoy. It was simply a wonderful day, and if you had been able to join us today, as we hiked around eight miles and went up and down somewhere around 2,500 feet, you would have said so, too. The rain was intermittent and didn't even cause us to put on our raincoats, and the wind and weather only added to our virtuous day. What a day!
:-)