October Weekend in the Mountains

A week in Iceland, a weekend on the island, and then this weekend.  One in the mountains in the trailer. 

A friend built a cool cabin near Mount Baker and while he invited us to use it, we towed the trailer up and parked it in the driveway.  Part of that was we like the trailer – but the other part is experimenting with furthering our ‘boondocking’ routine.  No hookups.  Managing power and liquids to stay as independent as possible. 

Friday’s evening’s trip up I-5 was more brutal than usual.  Close to an hour of extra time getting through Everett.  But, with trailer in tow and a known destination, we could chat and simply enjoy the bumper to bumper traffic.

The cabin is off the Mt Baker highway, about 20 miles shy of the ski area.  Freshly built it’s a cool 2 bedroom cabin.  Simple elegance. 

Saturday morning was a little too leisurely.   We left the trailer on the way to Artist Point to arrive to an all too full parking lot at the trail head.  In chats with the neighbors who have nearby cabins (everyone keeps an eye on everyone up here), the traffic has gotten worse and worse with each passing year.  I can see way.

Ptarmigan Ridge and the Chain Lakes are just about as beautiful as it gets.   This type of scenery is usually accessible on the 2^nd day of a backpack, but here, just 5 minutes into the hike, the views open up.

 

 

Into the hike we encountered a gal who said ‘beautiful day, eh?’.  We casually asked if she was Canadian and that led into a discussion about hiking in Canada.  She did say that Ptarmigan Ridge was her ‘all time favorite hike’ (we can see why), but then went on to chat about her favorite Canadian hikes and camping areas. 

She mentioned Kentucky Lake, Bluey Lake, Banff, Jasper, Lake Louise, and Johnson Canyon.

Pressing on a bit higher we had lunch at a viewpoint, then turned around back to the trailhead. 

I don’t think we’ve ever been on a hike that combined such scenery with crowds of people.  This is an easy, accessible hike and the popularity is on the rise.  As crowded as the parking lot was when we got there, when we left there were overflow cars on both sides of the road for a half mile or more outside the parking lot as we left. 

Once back at the ‘Campsite’ Leigh went for a walk had chatted with the neighbors.  On one side of the cabin, ‘2 doors down’ was Stacey, and then Elmer lived a few houses down on the other side.  Both have a history with this area and it was interesting to hear how the properties evolved.

 The inside of the cozy trailer

The weekend's 'campsite'.