A change of plans.
Our chief correspondent officer "Ginny", sent out an email yesterday for our fearless leader "Pat". Our wonderfully sunny weather is supposed to end starting tomorrow. Our hike for next week was to be Heliotrope Ridge and todays was supposed to be Skyline Divide. Heliotrope Ridge has several creek crossings and Pat was concerned about the water levels if we did the hike next week as planned. We are seeing a forecast of rain in the area for a few days.
Warm rain melts snow.
So he proposed that we switch the schedule around and do Heliotrope today and Skyline next Thursday. Our group usually is stopped at the last creek because of it's level and fast water, so we were excited to see how far we could get. I hadn't hiked to Heliotrope Ridge for about 30 years, so I was thrilled at the chance to go when we had a good chance of getting across the creeks.
14 of us gathered for the carpool to the trailhead. Since it is a Wilderness area we are allowed only 12 per group. We split up into a fast group and a slow group. My husband was able to hike with us today, we stayed with the slower group this week led by Pat.
 |
| Dick, Jean and me |
The trail was beautiful, lush and green.
We had 4 creek crossings today.
Before we got to the creek we saw Frank and Marjan walking down the trail towards us. Frank was apprehensive about the crossing and they decided to return to the cars and wait for us to return.
My husband is always a good sport about helping us get across.
Our view for lunch was to be Mt. Baker and the Coleman Glacier!
 |
| Click to view the Panorama at full size |
Time to head back down to repeat our 4 creek crossings and then back to the trailhead.
The sign on the tree below points to the Climbers route and Heliotrope Ridge. The climbers route goes up the Hogback, a very steep section of trail that leads to the climbers camp for those climbing Mt. Baker.
It was nice to see Frank and Marjan at the parking lot at our return, we shared our tales and then we all drove to Grahams for ice cream!
We were pleased with ourselves for being able to cross all of the creeks and see the rewarding view. What a great day!
Endomondo stats:
Total miles hiked - 6.3 miles
Total ascent - 1840 feet
Total descent - 1861 feet
Minimum altitude - 3618 feet
Maximum altitude - 5188 feet
