Park Butte

Remember two weeks ago when we went up Railroad Grade? I wrote about it here. It was foggy and Jonelle, who had never been there before, had absolutely no view of beautiful Mt. Baker that you see here, although I told her what she was missing. Now she knows. I'm not sure why they call it "Railroad Grade," because it has nothing to do with a railroad but looks like it could be one from Park Butte, where we went today.

Today's hike starts out from Shreiber's Meadow, the same as two weeks ago, but today we all went up to the Park Butte overlook. This old lookout cabin is open to overnighters on a first come, first serve basis. Because of the spectacular 360-degree views, many people head up there (like we twelve Senior Trailblazers today) for a nice place to have lunch.

See the lookout? We headed up there on a trail which I suspect is clear of any snow for just a few more weeks. Although it's a steep climb, once you get there and take a look around, it's simply stunning. Here you see Diane pointing out a peak while Peggy and Jonelle dangle their feet over the edge.

I was up here once before, but it was cloudy and the view was obscured. Today I got to see why people drive more than 60 miles from Bellingham to spend the day in this part of the Cascades. We could see Mt. Baker and myriad other peaks from here that just took my breath away. Here's the view from inside the cabin, where some of us had lunch.

What a place this would be to spend the night! Several of the Trailblazers have already done that, but there are a few little problems with this idyllic picture: one, how to take a quick pee in the middle of the night? I guess if you are a guy, it's not so much of a problem. However, it made me think of getting up in a wind- or snowstorm and making my way down the steps of this lovely cabin to find a place. Nope, I'm finally too old for that. However, in daytime, knowing that I'm going to hike back down before the sun goes down, it was just wonderful.

This view of the Black Buttes, with fresh snow against the brilliant blue sky, it is just too good not to share. But there were so many wonderful views that I just can't post them all here. If you want to see more, go to the sidebar and click on my link to "Trailblazers Fall 2011." We covered seven miles and 2,400 feet of elevation today. Once we got back to the cars, our de facto social secretary Amy had made a cake (in the guise of cupcakes) to celebrate Diane's birthday, which is today. A candle in the middle of her fudge cupcakes was blown out, the requisite song was sung, we imbibed, and we headed home. It was simply a wonderful day!

Amy on left, Diane blowing out the candle

And I do want to give a heartfelt thank you to all who commented on my post asking for feedback about my blog and its direction. I have tried to keep my posts short enough to keep your interest, which seems to be working, but I will try to add a little more of my internal process. I'm so happy to see that most of you who commented are happy to let me follow my heart and won't leave me unawares. Life is good!
:-)