Taking A North Cascades Nap On A Granite Slab Overlooking A Hidden Lake

There are many things I miss about the Pacific Northwest.

Things such as having four distinct seasons.

Along with plentiful fruits and vegetables, often growing wild, free for the picking, like blackberries and mountain blueberries. Freshly picked corn bought from a roadside vendor selling the corn 10 ears for a buck, on the honor system.

Streets with sidewalks with a grassy median separation from the road.

Politicians who are not national embarrassments.

Public works projects the public actually approves of, via voting, which then actually come to fruition. What a concept.

Way fewer balloon people. Way more people who look like they have had the air let out of them.

And, the scenery.

Mountains in every direction. Saltwater beaches. Real islands.

The Washington scenery came to mind via today's Microsoft OneDrive Memories from this Day.

One of the photos was of me laying on my back, taking a nap, on a slab of granite, overlooking Hidden Lake, in North Cascades National Park.

I have no idea what the total number of hiking trails is in Washington. Thousands?

Hiking trails in the lowlands, in the foothills, in the Cascades and Olympics. Thousands of miles of hiking trails.

Just within a few miles of where I lived in Washington, in Mount Vernon, in the Skagit Valley. Hiking and mountain bike trails on Little Mountain in Mount Vernon. The hike to the top of Big Rock in east Mount Vernon. More trails a few miles further to the east. Heading to the west multi trails in Washington Park and Deception Pass State Park, and others. 

All within about a 30-mile radius of my abode.

Why did I move from this paradise on earth I do wonder every once in a while...

Last Winter's Snow Long Melted From Texas High Country

Saw that which you see here, this morning, on Facebook, via the Skagit Breaking page.

A couple days ago, on this blog, I lamented Looking Back At North Cascades National Park and the fact that I used to live in a scenic wonderland, and that I currently live where it is not a scenic wonderland.

The caption on this Skagit Breaking post is "The snow is finally melting in the high country and the trails are opening. These are images from Copper Ridge in North Cascades National Park from this week".

That caption contains several bits of info that could never be applicable at my current location.

All the snow which hit the ground in Texas last winter has long been melted.

There is no high country for hundreds of miles in any direction on which snow accumulates.

And the only Texas national park with mountains is Guadalupe Mountains National Park way out in far west Texas.

The closest thing to a mountain I have in my vicinity is the big mound of dried mud in Lake Wichita Park which I call Mount Wichita.

If it weren't so HOT I would drive to Lake Wichita Park this final Sunday of the 2022 version of July and hike to the summit of Mount Wichita for a 360 degree view of mostly nothing...

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...

Happy Easter Look At North Cascades National Park

 

That which you see above fits in with our current ongoing theme of people in the Pacific Northwest sending me things via various means which tend to make me homesick for my former land of scenery, clean air, clean water and a well educated progressively thinking population.

I found the above in my mailbox this first Saturday of the 2021 version of April. An envelope with a postcard inside.

The photo on the postcard is a mountain peak in the North Cascades National Park. It looks like it may be a peak ones sees on the Cascade Pass hiking trail. The photographer is Andrew Porter of Sedro Woolley, Washington. Andrew Porter is not the sender of the postcard, his name was on the postcard's back indicating is was he who had taken the photograph.

Part of the message written on the back of the postcard...

Happy Easter, Durango---

I hope Texas still lets the Easter Bunny come hopping through. But you never know about Texas...

There were several paragraphs following the above two sentences, but they had nothing about Texas which was amusing. The paragraphs following the above two sentences were about March Madness and the finals being dominated by Pac-10 teams, particularly Washington's Gonzaga.

There was also mention made of the wild Washington weather day which ended March, that, and getting COVID shots.

I have yet to make any effort to get a COVID vaccination. I probably should quit procrastinating on that.

Hope one and all have themselves a might fine Easter today...

In A Mountain Free Zone Of Texas Vicariously Enjoying Maxine's Washington Mountain Hiking

On the left you are looking at Washington native, Maxine, leading a visiting hiker up Sauk Mountain. The trail up Sauk Mountain is ever so slightly unnerving due to the fact that the trail is a series of switchbacks, out in the open, no trees, working its way to the top.

I last hiked up Sauk Mountain at some point in the 1990s, with my favorite nephew Joey, in what became one of the more infamous "Nephews in Danger" incidents, due to the fact that as we made our way to the top the temperature dropped with the drizzly precipitation turning to ice which had the final few switchbacks ice covered which added an element of risk.

But, Joey and I continued on to the top and then gingerly made our way back down to safety.

Years later, in the current century, Joey's mom, my favorite ex-sister-in-law, Cindy, took up the hiking hobby, which eventually had Cindy hiking up Sauk Mountain, which then had Joey telling his mom about the "Nephews in Danger" incident. When I was later asked about this incident I plead not guilty due to the fact so much time had passed that some sort of statute of limitations had to be in play.

Maxine is an avid year round hiker. When the high country of the North Cascades is frozen over Maxine hikes the lowland hikes of the north Puget Sound zone. Through Maxine I get to vicariously enjoy Washington mountain hiking.

The state I am currently in, Texas, does not have much in the way of mountains, except out in the West Texas Big Bend Region. I have seen the Quadalupe Mountains in the distance,whilst driving to and from Texas. I would like to go to Guadalupe Mountains National Park and do some real mountain hiking.

The closest I have come in Texas to what seems like a real mountain hike I experienced by hiking to the top of Enchanted Rock down south in the Texas Hill Country.

A couple days ago Maxine asked me if I'd seen the Washington Trails Association website. I had not. I blogged about the Washington Trails Association website this morning on my Washington blog in a blogging cleverly titled Washington Trails Association Website.

The WTA website covers all of Washington's 31 Wilderness Areas. Daily, hikers post trail reports. Some days there are dozens of trail reports.

As far as I know nothing like the WTA website existed whilst I was still in Washington. I relied on old-fashioned trail guide books for my trail hiking information.

For several years now, in the fall, Maxine has hiked Cascade Pass to Stehekin. I have always wanted to do that. I've hiked to the summit of Cascade Pass several times and have floated the Lady of the Lake on Lake Chelan to Stehekin, one time.

Well, there is no mountain hiking in the near future for me. Today I may go do some mountain biking with Arlington's Village Creek Indian Ghosts.

One more picture of this week's Maxine hikes. Below Maxine and her hiking troop are on Cascade Pass in North Cascades National Park. I can not tell if the view is looking west, towards my old home zone of the Skagit Valley, or looking east towards Stehekin and Lake Chelan.