An unforgettable trip for all the right and wrong reasons... Beautiful views, groups of shooters, frozen lakes thawing out, a deadfall log injures another hiker who gets airlifted out, lakeshore like the coast of Maine, heat one day, drizzle the next!
First, take note that the trail begins not at the end of the logging road as shown in the Green Trails map, but right at the trail sign, on some old puncheon. We walked down the logging road for good views of Mt. Baker, but gave up and went back and found the trail right there beside the sign. After a little uphill the trail enters some meadows that are still covered in at least a meter of snow, and we just followed the main tracks, straight ahead to lower Anderson Lake. There we were joined by some rowdy guys with guns at a nearby campsite. How annoying - the noise plus the threat of a stray bullet ruining your whole day! We spotted an FS Ranger who told us he had warned them to stop shooting anywhere near a campsite, and they did indeed stop. It was good fortune to meet that ranger, and note that he had a radio, as we needed him day after next.
Day two was spent scrambling up the slopes of Mt. Watson from lower Anderson Lake, in vain hope of making it to some sort of summit or to the upper Anderson Lakes, which seem to be over a sheer cliff in an almost inaccessible bowl. But we had great long views SE to Glacier Peak and the southern Picketts from the SW butress of Mt. Watson, and there's a little tarn up against the ridge there that was still almost entirely frozen over. The return to camp included a couple of fun glissades. Next day we went over to see Watson Lakes from our basecamp. Gorgeous lakes, half frozen still, with clusters of waterfalls coming off the sheer cliffs below Mt. Watson. The shore of the larger lake reminded my brother from Boston of the coast of Maine, with many rocky islands and promontories. Just very, very spectacular. We made it to near the end of the furthest lake, to the point where Shuksan came into view, but unlike the previous day the clouds obscured the upper slopes and summit. So we ambled back, saying hello to the Ranger again, who was camped between the lakes.
Now the terror began! On our way up the several switchbacks out of Watson Lakes, another party of hikers passed us, and then we head a loud "CRACK - BANG" and a HUGE old tree trunk came barreling down the slope at us, knocking down small trees and kicking up rocks! LOOK OUT! Boom, boom it was flying down and then THUMP - it stopped! Silence... "Everybody OK?" More silence. I could see 2 of the other party standing over one of them on the ground! Oh, no! I ran up and sure enough the log had rolled-over one of them who had been crouched behind another log! He was beat-up pretty badly. I was really thinking he might not survive. He gradually came-to and started to talk, but couldn't get up. We told them about the ranger and one of them ran down to get him. The ranger came back in 20 minutes running and talking on the radio as he ran! He turned out to be an EMT! What luck! He stabilized the victim and let us go. We returned to camp and later saw a chopper make several loops up the valley, around lower Anderson Lake and toward Watson, finally disappearing. When we got home the next day I found a story in the Bellingham Herald that the victim was flown to Harborview and was in serious condition.
Next day we had misty fog and low visibility and cold wind! Quite the opposite of the 90+ degrees and clear when we’d arrived. That’s the NW for you!
How many thousands of old dead logs have you seen on the forest floor out there and never seen even one fall? And if one did fall when you were there, what would be the chances it would hit anyone? Anyway, I suppose the melt-out season is probably when most of this happens, so watch out and good luck out there! We'll have to come back when the snow's all gone to see what it looks like then. The snow is melting fast so that may not be long!!
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