Yellow Aster Butte 2018

Richard, Al, Steve, Ken, Melanie, Frank, Cathy

We broke up into two groups this morning to keep us under twelve. Ten Senior Trailblazers met at the Senior Center at 7:20am and left before the rest of us showed up at 8:00am. Since there is no sign-up sheet, we didn't know how many there would be, but it turned out perfect: ten and eight, which made for two manageable groups. I took the picture above and was with the later group, which had a great day today.

Melanie and me fooling around with our light sabers

We had a little time to wait while the others were getting ready, so Melanie and I played with our trekking poles. You can see that Melanie knows a little about fencing, but me, not so much. And then we got started.

On the trail

It was overcast and foggy for most of the day, but that kept the temperature down, and we didn't have ANY bugs at all. I've been on this hike when it's been unbearable, but today was cool and delightful, even if foggy.

Did Dr. Seuss create these?

We didn't see lots of flowers because it's late in the season, but these delightful ones made us all smile. Cathy said she has heard them called "mouse on a stick," which suits them, don't you think?

Fireweed and clouds

We also saw plenty of fireweed and monkey flowers along the trail, but the mountains were elusive, hiding behind the thick clouds. We didn't have any rain at all, although there was a 40% chance. Like I said, it was beautiful.

The other group on their way down

We ran into the other group of ten as they were making their way back down on this out-and-back hike. Seven of the ten decided to hike to the top of the butte, even though there was little to no view, and three stayed below for lunch. We shared some goodies with them that Mel and I had brought, so everyone was happy.

Our lunch spot

None of our group went up the extra 400 feet to the top of the butte, so we stayed right here and settled in for our lunch break. It was cool at almost 6,000 feet elevation; we bundled up and were quite comfy.

Ken amongst the pink fireweed

On the way back down, I captured this picture that shows a patch of beautiful fireweed, with lovely views behind. It was a gorgeous day, even if we didn't get to gaze at the mountains.

Our last few minutes before reaching the cars

At the end of the hike, we began to have a bit of direct sunlight, and I thought maybe we'd actually see Mt. Baker. Although we had some blue sky, behind all those clouds is one of our favorite mountains. But it was not to be. However, we covered more than seven miles and around 2,500 feet up and down, so the day was a good outing, with great company, and two wonderful pluses: no rain and no bugs!
:-)