North Cascades Winter

Taken as we went up to Artist's Point near Mount Baker on snowshoes. These tracks were in the basin below us near Upper Bagley Lake. We had near-perfect weather for our excursion and the light and colors were magnificent.

Herman Saddle lies to the west of Artist's Point between Mount Herman (to the right in the photo) and Table Mountain (to the left). Below it in the valley is Upper Bagley Lake. The area is popular for hiking in the summer and one of the best trails follows the far shore of Upper Bagley Lake along the lower slopes of Mount Herman, through Herman Saddle and down to Chain Lakes before heading round the other side of Table Mountain.

Mount Shuksan is not as high as Mount Baker but dominates the landscape to the east as one goes up to Artist's Point. In fact, Mount Baker is not even visible from the area where the photo was taken and does not come into view until one reaches Kulshan Ridge and Artist's Point itself.

I was back in western Washington for a few days last week and had the opportunity to go snowshoeing to Artist's Point. Artist's Point lies at the end of the Mount Baker Highway between Mount Baker and Mount Shuksan and provides fabulous view of both peaks. This is Mount Baker from the north. Hard to believe when I see the peak that I stood on the very top of it several years ago.

On our way down from Artist's Point (see previous photos) we watched several ski jumpers taking turns jumping off a slight rise while being photographed by a friend. We were too far away for better photos, but did take a few.

Back in western Washington for a few day, several friends and I snowshoed to Artist's Point. On the way up Mount Shuksan to the east and Table Mountain to the west dominate the view. Only at the top does Mount Baker come into view to the south. We've snowshoed in many different places but this is still our favorite route.

Taken last January on a brief snowshoe excursion with my wife to Artist's Point, this is Mount Baker, the dominant peak of the North Cascades near the Canadian border. We have not had opportunity to get out on our snowshoes this winter, but hope to soon. We've been busy traveling to help my parents and are only just home again.

This was taken at Artist's Point near the Mount Baker Ski Resort while snowshoeing there with my wife. We watched the sunset from the viewpoint before heading back down for supper and other comforts.

My wife and I decided, rather on an impulse, to go snowshoeing Saturday afternoon and evening. We did our favorite trek up to Artist's Point, between Mount Baker and Mount Shuksan and watched the sun go down behind Mount Baker before heading down in the twilight. The sunset was not spectacular but it was a quiet evening and much warmer than it was on January 2 and we stayed at the top for nearly an hour. There were quite a few camped in the snow at the top. We decided we wanted to try that and will wait now for a windless and sunny evening when we can backpack up and set up camp to watch both sunset and sunrise.