After all these years of wandering the west, we spend very little time - anymore - exploring our home state. Part of this is due to the terrain; part is due to the weather; and some is surely due to the grass always being greener - or the desert, desert-y-er - on the horizon.
Whatever the case, after several long driving trips, we were both looking to wrap up our summer adventures with something that was a little closer to home, which is when I hatched a plan to surprise @mrs.turbodb by revisiting two of her all-time favorite hikes, plus a third that I hoped would be just as great.
It would have worked if I hadn't left a trail of research for her to follow in Gaia. Still, even if it wasn't much of a surprise by the time we arrived at the trailheads, the Northern Cascades still put on a tremendous show as we climbed high onto their ridges.
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Even though we were staying reasonably close to home, our first day started earlier than normal. It was 4:45am when our alarm went off and we crawled out of bed to take our last shower, load up the Tacoma, and hit the road for the three-hour drive north. At this point, @mrs.turbodb still had no idea where we were going, and she was still sleepy enough that my nonchalant "North Cascades" answers were vague enough that she was soon taking her before-breakfast nap.
It was a little after 8:00am when we turned off of the pavement, my passenger opening her eyes just as we passed a sign with Yellow Aster Butte and an arrow pointed in our direction. I'd mentioned Yellow Aster Butte to her as a place I wanted to go, so it was definitely a surprise when I mentioned that it was not our destination!
Despite the early hour on a Wednesday morning two weeks after Labor Day, we passed more than 50 vehicles haphazardly parked at the trailhead for Yellow Aster Butte. Any trepidation I'd had that we were missing out on a better hike immediately vanished; both of us grateful for the rougher road - keeping out the riff-raff - that continued deeper into the mountains.
We eventually found ourselves at the end of that rougher road, at a pair of twin lakes nestled on opposite sides of a saddle. One draining west, the other east.
With only three other vehicles at the trailhead, this place was much more our speed, and after gathering up our sandwiches, grabbing our hiking poles - which we were pretty sure we wouldn't need on this hike, but decided to bring for practice - and making sure we had sunscreen since it was a blue bird day, we were off!
We gained elevation reasonably quickly as the trail switchbacked up the side of Winchester Mountain. Fall was in the air, and as we climbed into the sun, the colors around us began to pop. Below us, sparkling through the trees was a brilliant blue. Along the trail, entire hillsides were covered in a rusty shade of green. Huckleberries. Everywhere!
The higher we climbed, the more obvious it became that we'd made exactly the right decision to hike this particular trail on this particular morning at this particular time of year. Each switchback seemed to expand our view a little wider, to extend our sightline a little further. And soon, our view of the local mountain was nearly unobstructed.
Mt. Baker is just far enough north that it doesn't get much love from those who call the Puget Sound home. Towering over the region, Mt. Rainier is what we all refer to as "The Mountain," but let there be no doubt that Baker is nearly as grand. Had it not been for the jagged mountains in which we found ourselves wandering, it would have been nearly impossible to pull our gaze from the glacier-encrusted peaks of this glorious volcano.
Of course, there need be no fallacy of "or" out here.
We reached the summit of Winchester Mountain less than two hours after taking our first steps up its slopes. There, we were greeted by an old fire lookout. While this lookout is no longer used for its original purpose, a core group of volunteers keeps it in reasonably good shape, available on a first-come, first-served basis for anyone who'd like to enjoy its most spectacular views of the North Cascades as they stretch across the border into Canada.
Winchester Mountain was named in the early 1900s by prospector Jack Post for the rifle he was carrying. Today, an L-4 cab fire lookout sits atop its summit. Built in 1935 and staffed until 1966, the lookout was slated for demolition in 1982. The Mount Baker Club eventually worked out a deal with the Forest Service to save and restore the lookout, with the Forest Service providing the materials, and the club providing the labor. Volunteers from the club continue to maintain the lookout with two work parties per year.
wikipedia
Even though it was still well before noon, there was no better place to enjoy the peppered turkey sandwiches that @mrs.turbodb had prepared, so we pulled two rickety folding chairs out of the lookout and perched them on the rim of the summit like a couple of geniuses, soaking in the views all around us as we munched our lunch.
It wasn't just the views on the top of Winchester Mountain that were amazing. The weather was cooperating as well, with warm sun and the cool air of early fall making it one of the most pleasant mornings we've ever experienced in the mountains. Even though we knew there was still plenty left to do before we were done for the day, we couldn't help but hang out a little longer, wandering from one side of the summit to the other, enjoying some of the best that the Pacific Northwest has to offer.
Eventually, as always, it was time to get going. We gathered up our gear - mostly photo stuff I'd scattered around in my excitement - and prepared ourselves for the descent. There were more cars in the lot - we'd seen a few navigate the narrow road as we'd eaten our sandwiches - and we knew we'd likely run into a few on our way back down. A great reason to get an early start, in order to have the summit to ourselves.
The great thing about a hike with switchbacks is that you never have to worry that you won't see what's behind you, since you're always checking out both directions as you make progress along the trail. This was never truer than on this particular day.
We were back at the Tacoma and headed out of the mountains by 1:00pm, the first of three days of hiking now in the rear-view mirror. This spot had been a little further north than our next foray into the Cascades, and with three hours of driving - west, back out to the highway before heading south and east again - before we reached our next trailhead, it was time for one of us to enjoy an early afternoon nap.
As @mrs.turbodb snoozed through the gracefully curving roads of WA-20, I wondered how long I'd be able to keep our next destination a secret. We rarely visit the same place twice, but this was one that we'd jointly designated as the "Best Hike" the first time we'd experienced it, nearly 15 years earlier.
Would she wake up early enough to recognize the road? Would I be able to casually suggest I'd forgotten the name of the trail? Only time would tell.
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