Wilderness and Solitude

I returned to Mount Baker Snoqualmie National Forest to hike to Gothic Basin and Foggy Lake. I had a late start and arrived to the trail head at noon. The hike starts off with a one-mile hike down the Monte Cristo road, and then climbs 2840-ft over 3.5 miles. Two and a half grueling hours later, I arrived to the stunning site.

The basin is very photogenic.


...and very lush.


After a while, the clouds started rolling in...


...and it started raining.


Foggy Lake, Gothic peak and Del Campo peak.


I ate lunch, lounged around, and then headed back to the trail head. The rain made everything really slick... so I would not recommend this hike if rain is in the forecast.

B-KQG

My third program delivered today! I was spotting from the opposite end of the runway this time, where I met a journalist from Airline Reporter. We talked shop while waiting for the 77H to leave the EDC.

This end of KPAE allowed us to catch the bird taxi onto the runway...


...and spool up those ridiculous GE90's


...to jet off to HKG.


There were no shenanigans this time around :-(


I'll be on one of these in a few weeks   :-)

Rachel Lake

Today was spent stomping around the Alpine Lakes Wilderness in Wenatchee National Forest with Jill, Drew, & Katelyn.
^I hope that's the spelling...

The 8-mile hike parallels Box Canyon Creek, which provided for some lovely waterfall breaks throughout the humid day. Later in the hike, we were greeted with lovely views of Hibox Mountain, and a steep climb over the last mile. After all this, the trail presented us with this gem of a lake.



The shores and frigid water provided a nice break from the humid forest below. In the background of this photo, is Rampart Ridge, which lead to the even more remote, Rampart Lakes. We didn't have a chance to visit those, but that should be remedied this fall.

Sahale Arm

My original hiking plans fell apart this past Saturday, so I decided to return to the N. Cascades on Sunday.

I've done the hike to Cascades Pass three other times, but I've never continued on to Sahale Arm. So, I woke up early and drove the three hours to the trailhead. The old E36 handled the gravel and washboard roads like a champ, and so did the BRZ... for the most part....


^great life decisions.


The previous time I hiked to the pass, there were some spectacular clouds. Today was no different, although, their fluffiness made for some really tricky lighting.


^just me and some mountains.

I came across an NPS film crew that was putting work together for their Wilderness YouTube channel, and I also met a nice NPS crew that was heading to Sahale Arm to perform a butterfly survey. It was their fourth year performing this study; to document population growth/decline and migration of the various species in the park. Having never been to Sahale Arm, I followed them from the pass to the arm.


^Doubtful Lake from Sahale Arm.


While on Sahale Arm, some showers appeared and made their way towards me, not having packed a shell, I got rained on, and I eventually turned back when I hit the snow fields. Before this, while trudging up the arm, I passed a group of Chinese backpackers. However, they would pass me when I'd stop for photos, and I'd catch up (and pass) them after I had gotten my shots.

After this had happened a handful of times, one of hikers goes, "他又来了! 他像一个小火车!"
He's back again! He's like a little train!

 


On the way back to the trailhead, an NPS search and rescue chopper started scanning the ridges for a climbing team :-(  And when I was nearing the trailhead, a series of HUGE avalanches occurred. I wanted to take some video, but I couldn't turn my eyes away from the sight... Next year's plan is to hike to Sahale Peak!