I just did a nice four day backpacking trip up to Yellow Aster Butte and Tomyhoi Peak. Its normally a day hike, but I took four days because its nice that way. The first two days were pretty cloudy, but after a while the sun came out and the splendor of the fall shone out nicely.
I heard a few pikas, but I didn't see any, but I did find a few chipmonks, and some mice. No bears or larger mammals, however, besides people and dogs. I was expecting people, but wow are there lots up there, mostly from Seattle or Canada, or something. Few from Bellingham, because I guess the true home-grown bellinghamsters know to keep away from the crowds.
The colors were great, lots of red blueberries
And of course the white of Mt Baker. I like Baker, but those glaciers up there are really small looking after Alaska. Its neat to compare. I also love the remains of where glaciers were, and up on Tomyhoi there were some striations and moraines visible.
I hiked Yellow Aster Butte a couple years ago and got a picture of this tree, because I liked it.
A few of the colors and Baker in the background.
One night it was very clear and the stars were out and I got up to take a picture of the sky. The moon was very bright
A nice reflection pond
Shuksan with some Mountain Ash in front
The mountain ash is yellow,
And sop were these sedges
But I finally found a yellow aster at the top of the hill.
Here's an overview of the place I camped
On the way up Tomyhoi there is a glacier visible, but its melting away.
Here's another view of the glacier. Canada is behind, and at the border the clearcutts start.
I found a family of birds, which I now believe are Ruffed Grouse. They have the slight crest on their heads. They didn't like being too close but were mostly un-ruffled at my presence...
On the way up there were a few spots of difficulty which look so easy in photos, this one was cool looking but also a bit scary, since it dropped very steeply.
Looking back at Yellow Aster Butte, you can see its quite steep from there too.
There are lots of this steep cliffy stuff up there, and its interesting to try to guess how it formed.
Baker with some foreground
Here's the camp spot, right next to a small lake
So these photos are for some reason in reverse chronological, so its the beginning of the trip and cloudy.
A view in a break in the clouds
The dew was really amazing, frosting everything.
More frosty
more
Baker trying to look over the cloudtops
It was a great trip to get up to the alpine areas and see the cascades before heading down to mexico.
