Fall colors at Watson Lakes

Trailblazers on the way to the lakes

Today thirteen Senior Trailblazers headed south for a LONG drive to Anderson Butte and Watson Lakes. This is the first time I've done this hike, and now I know why: it's incredibly beautiful but it took us more than two hours to get there. However, the weather could not have been better, and the area is loaded with fall colors everywhere we looked.

Anderson Butte

The first thing we did is take the the trail off to Anderson Butte, which gave us a fantastic view on a day like today. See the uphill trail on the left-hand side? Yep, it was steep. The whole hike was either steep up, or steep down.

Mt. Baker from Anderson Butte

It was a clear day with just about perfect temperatures, but you sure needed your sun protection when we were not in the trees. Once we took in the magnificent views, we headed back down to the main trail and made our way to Watson Lakes. Here's our first view of them.

Both Watson Lakes in view

Once we got to the first lake, we stopped for lunch, sitting in the shade and enjoying the company and fine views. We had a new hiker with us today, Diane, who has just recently moved to the area. I took a nice picture of her with a couple of other hikers, but it didn't turn out, so I asked for a solo. Meet Diane.

Diane, our latest recruit

She did just fine, although she doesn't look old enough to be a senior, does she? She's a strong hiker and a welcome addition. I enjoyed talking with her and hope she will return to be introduced to more of our wonderful wilderness.

The farthest Watson Lake

After lunch, we walked to the other Watson Lake and took pictures while enjoying the view. Well, most of us took pictures. Some of us were busy snacking on the incredible number of ripe wild blueberries beside the trail. They were so abundant that I saw that my fingers had turned purple, a sure sign of a blueberry addict.

Red blueberry bushes

At this time of year, the blueberry bushes turn bright red when backlighted by the sun. I kept spying little blue morsels as I walked, and it was almost impossible to resist them. Fortunately, I wasn't alone. I love this time of the year. What surprised me is how many berries there were, considering that this trail is well traveled. There were so many, we barely made a dent in them!

Mt Baker from the car on our return

Once we piled into our cars and started back down the long drive, we saw this scene of our beautiful mountain with late-day shadows showing us how magnificent it is, a fine backdrop to our activities. We covered a bit more than six miles but 2,300 feet of elevation up and down, on a fine, fine fall day. It may have been my first trip here, but it won't be my last.
:-)