Yellow Aster Butte

Today, twenty Senior Trailblazers met at the Senior Center to carpool up the Mt. Baker Highway to begin our hike to Yellow Aster Butte. We had so many that we took five cars to the trailhead. Last year, almost exactly a year ago, we experienced a hailstorm on our way back down, and I wrote about it here. Today, however, the bugs were out in force but nowhere near as as bad as last year, and we had no hail. What we did have, instead, is haze from smoke, both from fires in British Columbia and also Russia, where smoke is entering the stratosphere and heading over here. You can see a slight haze in this first picture (click to enlarge), but it doesn't detract from the scenery.

In this picture, however, you can barely see our beautiful Mt. Baker because of the smoke and haze. It was really a little depressing. But the hike, up over three miles and 2,000 feet, was only tolerable because of my companions. Think of it: hiking in the heat, bugs assaulting you every few seconds, sweat dripping into your eyes, your aerobic limit almost at the limit. But I wasn't alone, I had nineteen others with me, most of whom where in the same boat as me.

One of my favorite couples: Linda and Ward, whom I affectionately refer to as the Cleavers, at our lunch spot, with a beautiful view even if a little hazy. We stopped and ate, and I felt better immediately. Some of the more ambitious of the group (only five out of twenty and I wasn't one) decided to hike up to the butte, another mile and maybe 900 feet of elevation. It looked nice, but not THAT nice.

That's the butte up there. As you can see, it was a bit of a hike from my location. I loved the clouds so I took this picture, but I had no desire to go any further. Instead, I took pictures of flowers and saw these incredible swirly things that reminded me of something from Dr. Seuss. Anybody know what they are?

So, all in all, it was a good day, around 7 miles total, especially sitting here eating my wonderful dinner prepared by Smart Guy, after a shower which washed away the bug spray, sunscreen, and sweat... and sipping a glass of wine. Life's good.
:-)