Mt Baker

See post below too for Sat's hike!

On Sunday we hiked on the south side of Mt. Baker. We were attempting to get to a lookout but once we got up high enough there was so much snow we went a different way. It was a much steeper hike but so beautiful. 

Here's one of our first good view of Baker.

Here's us partway up Railroad Grade trail.

Me hiking on Railroad Grade. The left side is where the old glacier pushed up all the rocks. Some places were very steep on both sides. I tried not to think about it....

Here I am on the edge of the moraine lip, past me is where the big glacier had pushed through. 

Erik enjoying the view from the trail.

The trail back down.

Coming down was much easier! Again we did alot of foot skiing or sliding on our butts!

Aren't we cute? The mountain's pretty cute too!

View of Baker from the start of the trail.

Maple Loop Pass

So we had to get out, yes, get out of the city and camp! We could only manage one night with our comflicting work schedules. On July 17+18 we headed to the Northern Cascades to enjoy the views. We found a great little campsite off the road a bit so it was really quiet and private. On Sat we did a hike recommended by Monika and Anders, Maple Pass Loop. It was spectacular!

We started out around 4800ft elev. and topped out at about 6600ft. We went around two nice lakes Lake Ann and Rainy Lake. One we could get really good view of from the trail but Rainy Lake was obstructed by some trees, darn trees, J/K. It was all gorgeous. Here's me on the trail with Lake Ann in the background.

We kept climbing and eventually got to the snow!  This trail usually has amazing wildflowers but they got a lot of late spring snow this year so it was still covered.  This next shot is a view of Black peak and Lewis Lake from Heather Pass. 

Here's a view of the trail from Heather Pass over to Maple Pass. Lots of snow!

Here I am hiking up the snowfield.  (Erik had the camera that day, just wait he'll get a couple pics in here...)

Lake Ann from Maple Pass. Can you spot the trail we were on where we took the first picture? It's on the left side of the lake up on the hill a little bit.

Keep on climbing Tonya! (BTW, climbing/hiking in snow is not as easy as a nice gravel trail. Think hiking in sand!)

Ok, see Erik was with me! Here we are after a little lunch at Maple Pass. I think we look short in  this picutre. Or maybe it's just that the mountains are soooo tall! 

Here's me with Corteo Peak and Black Peak in the background. Isn't that a cool picture????

Here we are at the highest elevation point.

Here's a view of Rainy Lake on the trail down through the trees. We did have a lot of fun going down. We did a lot of sliding of foot skiing, well Erik did that I mostly went on my butt. It was such a warm day you dried right off, plus it was cool and refreshing.

Look what I saw today....

Mt Rainer in all it's glory. Beautiful Bianchi. Fabulous flowers. Don't you love the color? Sophie is hiding from the heat!