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!

Pine and Cedar lakes hike

 Today I hiked with my dog Scoutina to Pine and Cedar lakes. I decided to use the hands free leash. The leash attaches to a waist belt, this way I can use my trekking poles for the hike.

The parking lot was nearly full when I got there, but as I went up the trail it seemed they were all returning to their cars. I had a fairly quiet day on the trail, fine with me!

Scoutina did a fine job of pulling me up the trail. The leash that attaches to the waist belt is a bungee leash, so when she feels the recoil she "generally" slows down or at least looks back to see why the tug,

The trail was super lush and green. 

We've had our fair share of rain lately and the plants were bushy and thick. 

I'm always glad when I get to this sign post, it's at about the 1 mile mark so just over 1/2 mile till the uphill isn't' so steep.

I saw a few heart rocks on the trail

The echo sign kiosk is at about 1.7 miles. The "echo" sign is to help if there is need of a rescue. Each sign that is labeled for rescue assistance has a different name assigned to it.

I passed a lot of sign posts today.

On the way to Pine lake, we started seeing Squirrels. Yikes, Scoutina gets overly excited about Squirrels. Since I was attached to her my plan was to just sit down if she decided the chase was on. After a few firm "no's" and a few jerks on her collar she decided to walk along again, finally we got out of Squirrel country

I wondered how Scoutina would do on the boardwalk at Pine lake. She did walk on the boardwalk but spent most of her time off the boardwalk, I was just thankful that she didn't pull me off. Usually she runs through water, this time she quietly walked along near it. Whew!

I've taught her some trail safety (for me) words. She walks very slowly and stays in contact with my left leg when I say "slow". She walks like she's tiptoeing, it's so cute. She can heel and go slow with reminders. This is very helpful for me when I'm attached by the waist, especially on steeper downhills that might be have roots, rocks or that may be slick. I also say "no pull" when she is at the end of the leash and I don't want to be pulled. All helpful skills, and as I said all with reminders but she's getting the hang of it.

We stopped at the bench at Pine lake for 1/2 of my lunch.

I had decided that if the downhill to Pine lake went well with Scoutina I would attempt the downhill to Cedar lake. I ate the second half of my lunch at Cedar lake. I decided not to hike around the lake this today. Today was really an experiment to see how Scoutina did with just me and the waist leash. *My husband usually is in charge of Scoutina on our hikes.

I didn't go back by way of the overlook because I know that trail can be steep and has a few trees that need to be climbed over. That wasn't on my agenda today. So back up the way we came to join the main trail again. At the 1.7 miles to go, I switched out leashes and used the extension locking leach for the long steep downhill. I have more control with this style of leash and I can extend it when the trail is flat or if there's any water she wants to wade it. I'm glad I brought it, it worked out perfectly. We did our "slow", "heel" all the way down the hill. She was very patient with me. A good outing for both of us.

We made it back to the parking lot💓

We saw no one at either lake. I was surprised about this on such a nice day, but as I said earlier in my post that was fine with me.

Total miles hiked: 5.75 miles

Total ascent: 1473 feet