Cascade Alpine 2013

Summer Hikes in the North Cascades
Welcome to the start of the 2013 summer hikes. My mantra: "I wish I was in better shape..." Trillium finish blooming in May at low elevation, but are still going June 29 above 4000-ft. Peter dances across all the drainages in the way to Heliotrope Ridge. Classic Mt. Baker and the Coleman Glacier icefall view. The refracted light in the ice is a strinking blue when the sun comes out. Not a bad place to enjoy a break, even if it required a 7-mi, 2500-ft vertical climb on a mountain bike ride just to START the hike.
Exit hike. Peter does it eyes-closed to make it more sporting. Queen's Cup or Bead Liliy. Baker still dominates the skyline across the Nooksack River valley. Glacier lilies are the true indicator that summer has come to the alpine. Fourth of July. Yvonne traverses the last snow patch on Goat Mt below our 5000-ft lunch break. Yes, that's Eeyore making Yvonne's ice ax safe in the most uncomforatble way imaginable.
Looking across the Nooksack drainage at Mount Shuksan. The classic view down Skyline Divide as you exit the forest. This view is one of the best in the local area. Surveying the fields of glacier lily. Twin white paintbrush. 6700-ft lunchtime cathedral far out on Skyline Divide. Coleman Glacier Icefall... from far across two major drainages.
Colfax Peak ice cap behind the Coleman Glacier. White heather in full bloom. Yvonne, Queen of the Cascades, Princess of the Divide Glacier lily on the shady morning side of the divide. Morning marine clouds coat everything in tiny droplets 1000-ft above Cascade Pass. The streaming cloud deck lifts to show the beginning of the Sahale Arm wildflower season above 6000-ft.
Marmot on the trail and unwilling to let us have it. "I think I'll just hang out and chew on this rock and make them wait." Yvonne makes the last steps to gain the top of the second moraine, at the base of Sahale Glacier. Not bad, reaching 7500-ft before lunch. Billy goat close enough to breathe on us... Doubtful Lake 1400-ft below. The rest and the views are well-earned.
No photo will ever truly let you experience what it's like to stand in this spot. The clouds and Johannesburg Mountain make a nice backdrop. The scenic start of the Chain Lakes Loop Fringed grass of parnassus, I believe. Very nice with the just melted frost moisture. Mountain Ash berries hint that fall has arrived. Reaching Herman Saddle provides spectacular view of a lenticular cloud over Baker's summit.
A closer, B&W look at the cap cloud. The first time I've ever seen Iceburg Lake completely ice free. It was a warm and dry summer indeed. The dry summer made for small and tart blueberries. The lens distortion makes my thumb look huge.