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After dropping off our trailer in Chilliwack BC (AND looking at larger trailers...) we drove the Mt. Baker Scenic Hwy nearly to its end. This is the trailhead. The hike is only 4.1 miles, but involves an elevation loss of 1000 feet and a climb of 1000 feet. It is ca. 11:40 am.
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The route drops down into the valley of upper Swift Creek. One can see a notch just to the left of center of the photo. That is where we are heading.
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The obligatory Wilderness boundary sign. It is always great to know you will not be harassed by motorized vehicles.
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A better view of the valley.
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Nice fireweed and mountain ash.
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Ahhhhh...... and the blueberries were everywhere. You are not going to starve to death out here.
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Lovely wood ferns in the forest.
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Eventually, we crossed a creek, and started traversing through the woods. Note that Susie is wearing her pack cover, but it is not raining much yet.
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Several tens of acres of land had slid down the mountain sides, generating a lot of bare ground
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Susie photographing an interesting geologic feature across the valley.
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A nice view of a pika, as we started climbing through rocks. Although we were on trail, it felt a lot more like talus hopping.
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Roger having completed a portion of the talus slopes, but basically, the last 1.5 miles is all rock.
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Our first view of this Lake Ann. Note the rain drop on the lens. One can see the rain coming.
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A quick shot of Lower Curtis Glacier on the SW face of Mt. Shuksan.
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There are a fair number of campsites near Lake Ann, but they are all very heavily used. Bare ground. We had set up in another place, huddled in our tent to wait out a shower, and then moved camp 250 meters or so to another spot.
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About 5:30 pm, it started raining, hard. We decided to violate normal rules and cook under our tent fly. Our own version of Santa Fe chicken and rice with black beans was pretty tasty.
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It rained hard until 10 pm and then fogged up. This photo, taken after we got up the next morning, suggested that things were not too promising.
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A better view of lower Curtis Glacier on Shuksan.
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The next morning, we noticed something we had not noticed the night before: a wreath made out of wood ferns near our camp. Reminded us a bit of the movie "The Shipping News." Those of you who have seen the movie will know what I mean.
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Camp chores always involve water treatment. Here, Roger is using our Steri-pen to treat another liter of water.
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Ah, a bit of blue sky and the upper Curtis Glacier is becoming visible.
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Closeups of a glacier are always interesting. Lots of cracks, etc. About once an hour, we could hear huge booms where the glacier was breaking up and sending large ice falls into the abyss.
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A better view of upper and lower Curtis Glacier. The first time Roger saw Mt Shuksan was in 1978 on a day hike. It was nice to see the entire mountain then, because things were not promising on this day.
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But the weather lifted a bit and we took a short walk over to nearer the glacier.
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Looking down the valley of Shuksan Creek, to the south.
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A different view of the glacier.
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We came back to camp, picked up our lunches, and decided to circumnavigate Lake Ann. This requires more energy than it seems.
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One must traverse very steep heather, never an easy thing, AFTER you finish the talus.
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Lunch, from a knob above the lake.
