Mount Baker Two Views

Last week we headed up to Heather Meadows to see Mt. Baker from the North side. Unfortunately as we got further up the mountain the air became hazy and by the time we reached 5000 feet, we could barely see the mountains around us. Apparently there was a fire in Canada, just a few air miles north of us, and there was no wind to blow the smoke away. Here is a photo of Mt Baker, just 5 airmiles across from us. If you look closely, you can see the slight pink image of its outline in the upper left side of the photo. Mt. Shuksan was only 3 airmiles to our east and was slightly more visible. I am standing at Artists Point looking across at Mt. Shuksan's peaks and glaciers. Heather Meadows was a drop off point for backpackers but there were families, seniors, bikers, bicyclists, and assorted other walkers who walked the 1.5 miles out to this point to gape in awe at the tremendous size and beauty of this mountain. When we got back to the truck we had a picnic lunch and then drove down to Picture Lake where we got a different view of Mt. Shuksan as it towered over the tiny lake. Once again you will have to look hard through the smoky haze to see the mountain in the background. Today we headed up Hwy 20 to see the south side of Mt Baker but once again the mountain eluded us by having clouds wrapped around its summit. See the photo on the right.

Further up the highway we had our lunch and turned around for home at Diablo Lake which is filled with water full of glacial sediments making the color of the lake an opaque aqua color.

On Saturday we headed up to Bellingham to their farmers market which was a permanent facility with about 100 vendors and many entertainers. One of the entertainers was a hurdy gurdy man and he attracted quite a crowd. He turned a crank with his right hand and with his left hand he fingered the stops. The strings were inside being vibrated by the crank producing almost a caliope sound. We ended up purchasing many different kinds of pluots and blueberries which are grown all around this region.