Two hikes and four lakes

 Friday we hiked up the road from the upper Blanchard mtn. trailhead towards the alternate incline trail to start our days hike. My husband wanted to check out the camping areas around each lake, so these two hikes were information gathering events.

Up we went

The start of the alternate incline trail had some Cedar trees that had been stripped.

We went to Lizard lake first. It was a bit drizzly when we got to the lake. 

Bunch berries were in bloom on the lake's shore.

We really wanted to go up to North Butte after Lizard Lake, we talked about it and decided to put on our raincoats and see if there was any view to be seen.

Rain forest-like walk on our way up.

There was a slight view after all. 

Our adventure dog on the top of North Butte in the photo below. 

We always like to go to the top for lunch, but since it was chilly and windy we decided to go to the lower shelf and see if it was better weather there.

We were out of the wind at the lower area, yay! The clouds parted and we actually felt some sun's warmth as we ate our lunch. I sat on "Owens" bench while my husband stayed a ways back in the trees with our dog, he didn't trust that she wouldn't try to leap off the cliff. The clouds grew darker, I got a lightening and storm alert on my watch. That was exciting!

Plaque on "Owen's" bench.

After lunch we made our way to Lily lake.

By the time we got to Lily lake it was a pretty nice day. The mosquitos were buzzing though.

We were going to go down the alternate incline trail again but opted for going down the Lily Lizard lake trail. 

So lush and green.

We stopped at the bridge to enjoy the waterfall.

Then it was a short road walk up to the parking lot.

As we drove home the sky opened up and it rained hard. We also heard some thunder. I'm glad we didn't hike in the worst of the weather.

Total miles hiked: 8.15

Total ascent: 1663 feet

We walk with our dog quite often at Hovander park. Monday we did our usual loop and enjoyed all of the flowers in bloom around the farmhouse and the Fragrance garden at Tenant lake. 

Zoom the collage to enlarge it. The flowers were so fragrant.

Today we did the next hike to check out campsites at Pine and Cedar lakes. I did this hike by myself (not completely alone, I had my dog Scoutina with me) a couple of weeks ago. I didn't go around Cedar lake as we did today. You can read about my experience HERE. 

My husband was checking our the map and our dog was checking out the smells.

Up we went again on the start of this hike.

Selfie with my husband making his way up the hill .

I spied this tiny mushroom in the hollow of this tree.

The creek was bubbling along beside the trail.

After the long uphill it's fairly flat to the Pine lake turn off.

We turned right on the boardwalk to check out that campsite.

We saw some scratches on some trees near that campsite. The scratches sure looked like bear claw marks.

We then made our way to the other campsite at the other end of the boardwalk. There was much more sun coming through the forest at this end of the trial.

We had a pretty good view of the lake from here.

We then turned and made our way to Cedar. lake.

Tiny cluster of mushrooms on a stump.

We hiked around Cedar lake and enjoyed the views as we looked at the campsites.

Junction at the boardwalk.

As we made our way back down the long hill to the parking lot I spied some Coralroot plants. A bit blurry in the photo, but they are always a treat to see.

I saw a large mushroom along the trail and decided to try to get a photo of the underneath side. Oops my face is peeking in the corner of the photo.

The photo below is the top of that muchroom.

Another mushroom along the trail.

The underside of that one was interesting, it had some pointy edges around it.

Ah...a heart rock💓

Total miles hiked Pine and Cedar hike: 6.7

Total ascent: 1766 feet

It was fun to hike the familiar trails with another purpose in mind. I hadn't taken the time to inspect the camping areas much on our other hikes, there are some nice ones at the lakes. Now will the fishing be equally as productive??

Also good news to report! 

I had my 6 month scan last week. The results showed no evidence of metastatic disease. 

So good for another 6 months!

Artist Point walk

Yesterday it was time to do our annual walk up the highway from the Mt. Baker ski area towards Artist Point. We started at the large parking lot near the gate. We like to check out the snow depths before they open the access to the cars. I'm thinking the gate to at least the Heather Meadow visitor center will be open in the next couple of weeks. The visitor center/museum is currently buried in snow so it might be longer before that is open. 

We of course brought along Scoutina, she was sooooooo happy to be there, lots of rolling in the snow, lots of pets and compliments from the other walkers. One young girl even took some photos of Scoutina with her tablet. Several  people stopped to ask if they could pet her. Another young girl commented about how soft her fur was. She definitely brightens peoples day, she brings a smile to most peoples faces when they see her.

We stopped to watch the late spring skiers ski into the melting pond near the Wild Goose trailhead.

There was plenty of melting snow water along the road for Scoutina to cool off in when the banks were too high for rolling in.

Such beautiful views for our walk.

The snow line is about the 4000 feet level according to the conditions report at the Glacier ranger station. You can see the distinct snow line in the photo below.

The Lake Ann trailhead still has a lot of snow, but the trailhead parking lot itself is plowed.

Looking towards Lake Ann way in the distance.

Shuksan

Heading back down the road with a view of Table mountain.

We stopped at the Glacier ranger station on our way up the highway and I found a new book to buy. I'm always looking for good identification books, I thought this one looked good. The ranger at the desk gave me a checklist pamphlet to go with the book. Bonus!!

We walked two miles up the road before turning around, so a total of 4 miles yesterday. Can't beat the views we had!