Skyline Divide — Sunday, Sep. 4, 2005

North Cascades > Mount Baker Area

This was my second attempt at this hike and once again Mount Baker seemed to become completely encased in clouds just as I broke above treeline onto the ridge. I saw Baker while driving through Glacier on 542, and again on the drive home, but not at all in between. Furthermore this seemed to be the only substantial cloud cover in the North Cascades area - any other hike would have been a better choice. For me this is par the course this summer - bar far the worst for photography that I've had in 7 years of hiking in the Cascades & Olympics. I blame the lack of snowfall over the winter and some bad luck like I had today. As for good news there was a horde of plump, sweet blueberries in Chowder Basin, the best wild blueberries I've ever had. I also saw a herd of 16 mountain goats scale a gravelly cliff on Chowder Ridge like they were walking up a staircase. Very cool.