Skyline Divide Trailblazer hike

Fires, Smoke and a change of plans.

Our Trailblazer group was scheduled to hike up Sauk Mtn. today, but a wildfire burning near Baker lake prompted our fearless leader Pat to make a change. So instead of heading south of Bellingham, we headed north to Skyline divide. We were hoping to get another chance to see some mountain wildflowers before they are all gone.

We drove the long gravel road (12 miles) up to the trail head from the Mt. Baker hwy. 

We stopped to watch a Grouse walk VERY SLOWLY across the road.

 Our group of 8 stretched our legs from the long ride, got our packs and boots on and headed up the trail.

Note, the blue bag dispenser hanging on the sign post. The Mt. Baker-Snoqualmie National forest requires that human waste be packed out in the blue bags.

Our fearless leader Pat signing in at the trail head.

A heart rock <3

We hadn't hiked for very long when we realized our leader was in distress. He has breathing difficulty normally on inclines, but this was much worse than usual. He wasn't doing well, we all agreed we should head back down the trail. I've stated this about our group before, but I really like how supportive and encouraging we are when one of our hikers is having a hard time. That is what it means to be in a group experience, we always yield to the person that is having difficulty. No one moans about the missed opportunity of going to the top. We rally around the particular person, doing what we can to get them back to the car as quickly and safely as possible. 

I tried to get a photo of the haze in the sky, we realized the reason for his labored breathing was the smoke in the air drifting down from the fires in British Columbia, Canada

Slight smoke haze in the air

 We dropped down in elevation and ate our lunch along the river, much cooler too. 

You can see by the milky colored water that there is alot of Glacier melt going on in the mountains.

more slight smoke haze in the air

 After lunch Pat enjoyed taking us on a little scenic drive to checkout the area.

 Of course the mandatory stop at Graham's for ice cream on the way home & as you can see I did manage to get a picture of some flowers too!

Little did we know that both of our hiking destinations would be impacted by the wildfires burning around us. It was still wonderful to be out with our group, even on an abbreviated hike.

Endomondo stats:

Total miles hiked - 1.77 miles

Minimum altitude - 4915 feet

Maximum altitude - 4117 feet

Total ascent - 825 feet

Total descent - 703 feet