In Mountain=Lite Texas Going Up Tabletop Mountain & Mount Shuksan With CJ & JR

The theme of my wall calendar, this year of 2023, is scenes of The West.

For 10 months I have been flipping the calendar to the next month to see a scene of The West that I do not remember seeing.

And then, this morning, I flipped the calendar to Novembe,r and finally, a scene of The West that I have seen many times, and thus, do remember.

Mount Shuksan.

The caption under the picture of Mount Shuksan says, "Mount Shuksan, North Cascades National Park, Washington".

I did not know Mount Shuksan was in North Cascades National Park. I know a big mountain a short distance to the right, or south, of Mount Shuksan, the Mount Baker volcano, is not in North Cascades National Park.

One of my all time favorite photos has Mount Shuksan in the background.

That would be nephews JR (Jeremy Ryan), on the left, next to his big brother, CJ (Christopher Jay), on top of Tabletop Mountain, with Mount Shuksan looming behind.

This photo was taken some time in the 1990s, I think. JR was be about 8 years old, with CJ about 12, give or take a year, or two.

We hiked the switchback trail to the top of Tabletop Mountain, and then made our own trail back down the north side of the mountain, with Mount Baker looming large a short distance away. There was a lot of slipping and sliding to get off Tabletop Mountain.

Let me see if I can find other photos from that day JR & CJ went mountain climbing with me...

Here JR leads the way up Tabletop Mountain. You see a bit of Mount Shuksan to the right.

At the top of Tabletop Mountain, with Mount Baker behind him, JR threatens his favorite uncle with a snowball.

Above is a look at how we got down off Tabletop Mountain.

And here we see JR sliding towards Mount Baker.

Now, you might think my nephews are a bit under dressed to be playing on snow, wearing shorts and t-shirts.

Well, this hike up Tabletop Mountain took place in late August.

In Washington you can find frozen white stuff to slide on, year round, if you go high in the North Cascades.

Email Memories I Remember From Microsoft

Once again, memories in my email. I have been erroneously thinking these are Google memories. They are not a Google thing. They are a Microsoft thing. Memories from Microsoft's OneDrive, not Google.

I remember today's memories. But that which is being remembered did not happen in February. These memories happened in August and September. In February those mountains views are not accessible.

In the upper left that is favorite nephews Chris and Jeremy, with Mount Shuksan behind them. We are starting the hike up Tabletop Mountain.

Below Chris and Jeremy, that is just Jeremy threatening to throw a snowball at me, with Mount Baker behind him. At this location we are on the north side of Mount Baker.

To the right of Jeremy that is favorite nephew Joey, hiking up Mount Baker, from the south side of the volcano.

Above Joey that is a McDonald's in North Dallas. It was a unique McDonald's, designed to look like a giant Happy Meal box, among other unique architectural elements. I believe this McDonald's no longer exists. I believe the last time I was at that McDonald's was in January of 2009, with mom and dad.

Looking Back At North Cascades National Park

Last night something caused me to try and remember what year it was that North Cascades National Park came to be.

And so I Googled North Cascades National Park and learned, via Wikipedia, it was in October of 1968 that LBJ signed the bill that created the new national park.

The Wikipedia article contained multiple photos of North Cascades National Park scenery, including the photo above, of Mount Shuksan. 

Wikipedia insists the source of the photo must be credited, thusly--Photo by Frank Kovalchek from Anchorage, Alaska, USA - Mt. Shuksan reflected in a small tarn on the Artist Point trail.

When I saw the Mount Shuksan photo I was puzzled, because I did not think that that mountain was in the North Cascades National Park. Mount Shuksan is quite close to Mount Baker. No mention of Mount Baker being in the national park was made.

Then I saw the Wikipedia map of North Cascades National Park and saw that Mount Shuksan is in the national park, whilst Mount Baker is not.

One of my all time favorite photos has Mount Shuksan in the background.

Those are my favorite nephews, Jeremy and Christopher, sitting atop Tabletop Mountain, with Mount Shuksan behind them. Christopher is looking off to the south, at Mount Baker, looming close.

Let's leave North Cascades National Park now for a look at Mount Baker.

I was heading north on Interstate 5 when I took this photo on the way to Birch Bay on August 11, 2017. We are a mile or two south of Mount Vernon, looking northeast at Mount Baker, looming large. This gives you a clear idea of how close I lived to scenic mountain scenery when I lived in the Skagit Valley zone. My Mount Vernon house was located a short distance past that notch from which Mount Baker appears to rise.

Now, let's go back to being at North Cascades National Park locations.

Above I am taking a rest on a granite slap, looking east at Hidden Lake.

If I remember correctly, the above photo was taken on the way to the summit of Green Mountain. There is a fire lookout at the summit. I recollect taking a nap when the summit was reached.

And here we see Wally, Wanda and Big Ed on the Cascade Pass Trail. This was a route used by Native Americans to cross the Cascades. At one point it was considered to be a possible route for the North Cross State Highway, but it was deemed to be far too difficult to engineer a road via this route, That and it would compromise some of the most scenic locations in the park.

And, the final North Cascades National Park photo is also on the Cascade Pass Trail. That is Big Ed trying to decide whether or not to take another step.

Seeing these photos and remembering how close I used to live to a scenic wonderland, well, it has me a bit homesick...

Priscilla Takes Me Back To Washington Mountains With JR & CJ

In December a package arrived at my doorstep, sent by Priscilla from my old home location in Mount Vernon, Washington.

On Christmas, well, actually Christmas Eve, that package was opened.

And what to my wondering eyes did appear?

Well, among several things one of the things was a calendar, with Washington scenery.

I did not get around to flipping the calendar to February til this morning to see the Washington scene you see here.

This is a scene of the sort it is impossible to see anywhere in any direction for hundreds of miles at my current location.

The mountain you are looking at is Mount Shuksan.

Mount Shuksan is in what is known as the Mount Baker - Snoqualmie National Forest, part of the Cascade Mountains, which range from British Columbia to California.

So, America, you own this scenery, what with it being a National Forest.

There are frequent forest fires in this National Forest. I don't know if any Washingtonians have been dumb enough to take our dumb president's advice to go rake the forest floor so as to prevent those forest fires..

There are two volcanoes in the Mount Baker - Snoqualmie National Forest. The aforementioned Mount Baker and the not frequently seen Glacier Peak. I only saw Glacier Peak a couple times whilst residing in Washington. To see Glacier Peak required doing some hiking, or mountain driving. The Glacier Peak volcano was about the same distance as the Mount Baker volcano from my Mount Vernon abode.

In winter the Mount Baker Ski Area is open for skiing, if there is enough snow, which there usually is, what with the Mount Baker Ski Area holding the world record for deepest snow at a ski area.

When skiing in the Mount Baker Ski Area you can not actually see Mount Baker, except maybe at the top of one of the ski runs which my ski level never allowed me to access. The Mount Baker volcano is to the south and the view of it is blocked by other large mountain masses. But, Mount Shuksan is visible from the Mount Baker Ski Area, hence some people erroneously assume it is Mount Baker.

In summer, after the winter snow pack melts enough, a road is opened to a large parking lot which overlooks Mount Baker, giving easy hiking access to the volcano, and to the switchback trail to the top of Tabletop Mountain, which is what you see below.

The above is one of my favorite photos I have ever taken. Sitting on top of Tabletop Mountain those are two of my favorite nephews in the foreground, Jeremy, known as JR, and Christopher, known as CJ.

In the middle of the photo there is a line of the type rock pilings I call Hoodoos. And in the background that is a fuller view of Mount Shuksan than the one on Priscilla's Washington calendar.

As you can see, much of the snow melts off Mount Shuksan during the HOT time of the year, leaving only a collection of glaciers behind.

Next month it is highly likely I will be seeing Jeremy. Most likely on Monday, March 11 and on Monday, March 18. Mondays are Jeremy's regularly scheduled dinner dates with his grandma, also known as Miss Daisy.

Jeremy's Monday night dinner dates with Miss Daisy always are topped off with a rousing bout of Wheel of Fortune and Jeopardy. Jeremy usually wins these games, unless grandma is having a particularly good night...

Finding Lost Tabletop Mountain In Texas

Today I found photos I thought were long lost, which I have previously searched for among my big collection of old hard copy photos.

But, today the mystery of the missing photos was solved soon after I began perusing through a file cabinet I'd not looked in in years.

The first photo you see here is one of my favorites I have ever taken. That would be my Favorite Nephew Jeremy on the left, sitting next to my Favorite Nephew Christopher, at some point in time back in the 1990s, before I moved to Texas and the nephews moved to Arizona.

Chris and Jeremy are sitting atop Tabletop Mountain. Behind them is Mount Shuksan. To their left, in the direction Chris is looking, sits the Mount Baker volcano.

Notice the piles of rocks behind the nephews, resembling what I've come to call Hoodoos when I see these type rock formations on the forlorn Tandy Hills.

Til today, all I had remaining of these photos were scanned images compressed to a low byte size suitable for using them on a webpage back in the pre-broadband days when one worried about such things. Today's newly scanned versions look almost 3-D. At least on my screen.

Tabletop Mountain is on the north side of Mount Baker. The parking lot and trailhead opens up in late summer, unless the snowpack has been light, allowing it to open earlier. The parking lot is at the end of the road that one can use to drive past the ski area when enough snow melts.

As you can see, a lot of people show up for the multiple hiking opportunities accessed from this location, including a trail on the north face of Mount Baker.

Above we are starting the trek up Tabletop Mountain, via a series of switchbacks.

I first saw this as a little kid, retaining the memory of a string of people switchbacking up a mountain. As years passed I started to think this was a false memory, too young to remember the location of the memory, til one day, years later, I found myself back at the same location, again seeing a string of people switchbacking up a mountain.

Above we are on one of the aforementioned switchbacks, making our way to the top of Tabletop.

I think this may have qualified as one of my infamous Nephews in Danger incidents, where Jeremy 'skied' down a sheet of snowy ice towards Mount Baker.

Below Jeremy watches as Christoper is the Nephew in Danger. As I remember it Christopher reached a high rate of speed and had trouble hitting the brakes when the snowy ice came to an end.

I have shown photos of Washington mountain hiking to Texans previously. Summer photos of being up in the mountains. The Texans are always perplexed as to how can one be in shorts, like it is hot, when you are on a cold snowy mountain. Well, it takes a lot of thermal units to melt massive snow packs, so ice remains even when the air is heated into the 70s, or 80s, making it quite pleasant to be in the high country minimally attired.

I don't remember why Jeremy was threatening his Favorite Uncle with a snowball. That would be the aforementioned Mount Baker volcano behind Jeremy.

Looking at these photos is it any wonder I am homesick for real mountains with real scenery and real trails trekking to see real scenery on real mountains?

I miss cross county skiing on these mountains too. Ironically, yesterday I tossed my cross country skis into the garbage. The Texas heat had de-laminated them....

Incoming Smoked Salmon From Nephew Joey While Nephews JR & CJ Find Hoodoos

Yesterday I blogged about Spencer Jack's Uncle Joey's Big King Salmon Catch Of The Day.

That would be Spencer Jack's Uncle Joey you are looking at, a few years prior to recently catching a big  fish.

I used to see that volcano you see here from my Mount Vernon kitchen window. That would make that volcano Mount Baker. This volcano has not erupted since the 1800s, if I remember right.

On the day this photo was taken Joey and I hiked up Mount Baker til we could safely go no further, but close enough to see the steam spouting from the volcano's crater and smell the sulfur.

I heard from my Favorite Nephew Joey this morning, with the following message....

FUD,
Fresh smoked salmon is highly requested by all of the non fishing family members. The  order in which I distribute my catch usually starts with my grand parental units on my mother's side, and filters down to bribes with my coworkers. However, I believe this is a third or forth time you have requested this highly sought after delicacy. I believe persistence pays off, so the next time I catch a fish it will be smoked and sent to Texas. I will inform you prior to its arrival.
FNJ

I don't remember making smoked salmon requests, but I am old and my memory is shot, sometimes.

Looking for a photo of my Favorite Nephew Joey I came upon the photo you see below.

That would be my Favorite Nephew Jeremy (JR) on the left, with my Favorite Nephew Christopher (CJ) on the right, a few years prior to moving to Arizona.

Behind JR & CJ is Mount Shuksan. This location is on the north side of Mount Baker, opposite the side of Mount Baker Joey and I were on in the first photo. CJ is looking towards Mount Baker, which looms large a short distance away.

Where JR & CJ are sitting is the top of Tabletop Mountain. Access to the Tabletop Mountain parking lot usually opens late in the summer, after a lot of snow melts. This year I suspect the parking lot will be opening earlier than the norm, due to Washington's current drought emergency.

Can you see what caught my eye in the photo of JR & CJ? Between where they are sitting and Mount Shuksan?

A line of Hoodoos!

Just yesterday Tacoma's Queen V pointed me to an extremely impressive video showing Hoodoos being made in exotic locations. Then destroyed.

The Tabletop Mountain Hoodoos are in a slightly more scenic location than that place I frequently find Hoodoos nowadays, that being the Tandy Hills....