Last High Country hike 2012

Today only six Senior Trailblazers showed up to discuss whether to try to make one last trip into the High Country before we start our around-town hikes. Since it was a small group, and everyone was more than willing, we headed up to Goat Mountain on a beautiful day. There was no snow at the trailhead, but we ran into a small amount not long after we began our ascent. Not too bad, and the sunshine and mild temperature kept us going. We saw signs of wildlife, such as this one.

Bear! We saw several of these prints in one particular section of the trail; Al asked if someone else might like to lead for awhile. (He was joking, since bear at this time of year are foraging for food that is easier to catch than humans.) We also saw tracks of some large hares and tiny mice as well as bear. As we continued our climb, the snow got heavier on the trees and trail. Soon we saw that nobody else had been up here since the last snowfall. Our trail was beginning to get less distinct.

As we trudged upwards through the snow, which wasn't actually all that hard to navigate, the clouds came and went, giving us a nice bit of sunshine, and then grey skies. This hike meanders steeply up to a really nice lookout when the skies are clear, but we kept going because, well, nobody wanted to turn around quite yet. Here we are at the top, getting ready to have a quick lunch.

Steve, Al, Rita, and Ross (Mike and I were there, too, not pictured)

As we settled down into the heavy snow to have lunch, the sun across the valley lighted up the sky but obscured the views of Mt. Baker, Shuksan and Mt. Sefrit that we usually have from this vantage point. (If you want to see what we missed, here's a link from our July excursion to the same place.) Today we were pushing it, as the late October snowfall has already made the trail sketchy, but we were all very happy to get to the lookout spot anyway.

We didn't stay long, because once we sat down and began to eat our lunch, we cooled down quickly. My feet don't usually get cold, but after a few minutes here I realized that it wasn't a good idea for me to stay up here in the cold. Although the breeze was very light, it was enough to make me want to start down very soon. Al and the rest were willing to cut our lunchtime short.

At last we  began our downhill trek to the cars and warmth. I was hoping for a glimpse of some of our mountain friends, but it wasn't worth waiting around for. The trip downward warmed me up pretty quickly, and then just as we rounded a corner, there was Mt. Shuksan, finally coming out for a view!

Look at all that fresh snow! It's obvious that this will be our last hike in the High Country with the Trailblazers for the season, but we will still head up here on snowshoes now and then, so that we can enjoy the amazing sensation of accomplishment and High Country air, none of us wanting to wait until the spring to get up here again! We covered 7-and-a-half miles and 3,000 feet of elevation gain and loss today.

It was a lovely day, and I'm so glad I went. For those who stayed home today, you missed a wonderful time in the wilderness with us! There will be more of these hikes next year, so I'll see you when we meet again. It was a wonderful way to end the season.
:-)