Excelsior Pass from Damfino Lakes

Al in the meadow

Today twelve Senior Trailblazers met to hike up to Excelsior Pass from what we call the "easy" side. There are two ways to approach this pass, one directly from the Mt. Baker Highway at a lower elevation, and the other, a hike in from Damfino Lakes, which necessitates a long drive on a sketchy road, but starts at a higher elevation and is two miles shorter. Our destination is to the right in the picture above.

Running into snow on the upward journey

The weather forecast was for the clouds to clear off rather early in the day, and Al had read that this particular direction had "some snow" but was passable. In other years, we have not attempted this north-facing approach because of deep snow, but because of this year's snow deficit and good weather, we had hopes of some good views when we got to the pass. The low clouds kept hanging on, making the temperature very pleasant for hiking, but obscuring any possible views.

Our lunch spot

We made it to the pass, and started on the High Divide trail that would take us to the summit of Mt. Excelsior, if we wished. Since there was little to no payoff, most of us stopped here for lunch while four of the most ardent hikers headed on. The light breeze made us glad for our extra clothing.

Mr. Camino on his first day back in the USA (Rich)

Chris and Rich returned late last night from their trip to walk the Camino in Spain. Chris wisely slept in, but Rich couldn't stay away and joined us today, although he has walked the past 34 days averaging at least 15 miles every day. Not bad for an old man of 73, eh? (We only covered seven miles today but much of it was in sloppy snow conditions.) Welcome home, and thanks for joining us!

Al, Steve, and me

Diane took this picture with my cellphone, so I could show everyone that I was there, too. And although the clouds came and went, we never had the beautiful view we knew was out there somewhere. It didn't really matter; we were still having a good time. 

This was the only view we had, partial and brief

When we began our descent, we kept hoping that the clouds would clear and we'd have a fantastic view, but it was not to be. This piece of some mountain, I'm not even sure which one, is all I was able to capture. A couple of times I'd get my camera out and point and focus, and poof! the view would be gone. Time to head back down.

One of many snowfields we had to cross

Although it was just about the opposite of last week's hot hike up to the Church Mountain meadows, we really enjoyed our time in the fabulous wilderness we get to visit every week. You might notice that the clouds are STILL hanging low in this picture.

Newlyweds, fifty years later

And then on the return journey, I learned that Ward and Linda are celebrating their fiftieth wedding anniversary today!!! I only happened to hear of it second-hand, and discovered that they considered not sharing this information with us, but finally it all came out. I told them I would be sharing it with the world,  because this is not your usual fiftieth wedding anniversary picture: it's much better! Two wonderful people enjoying each other, and enjoying the day with us as well. Congratulations and may you two have many more anniversaries like this one.

So that was my exciting day today. I'm home now, feeling pretty good, and realizing that my garden needs my ministrations, since it was full sun here all day long! Go figure.

:-)