Mt Baker Wilderness
Our next stop was the Mt Baker Wilderness. Mt Baker is an active stratovolcano located in the North Cascades region of the state of Washington. The 10,781-foot glacier-covered mountain last erupted lava about 6700 years ago, however, it continuously belches out steam from its permanent, heat-venting fumaroles located near the summit. The steam is only visible on cold windless days, otherwise typically high winds at the summit blow it away. It is famous for heavy snowfall setting a world record of 1041 inches (86 feet 8 inches)during the 1998-1999 winter.
Mt Baker and its glaciers viewed from Ptarmigan trail.
Pre-dawn at aptly named Picture Lake with Mt Shuksan’s reflection.
Sunrise and moon set at Mt Baker.
Another Mt Shuksan reflection. This time from the Artist Ridge Trail.
Sunrise at Mt Shuksan.
The rock columns forming what looks like a wall or boundary are an example of columnar joining. These form when hot lava cools and shrinks slowly. This cooling creates stress. The stress causes cracks forming the hexagonal columns.
Smoke from local and regional fires obscured the mountains on a few days.
We really enjoyed our time in the Mt Baker Wilderness. It has the one of the best selections of beautiful shorter hikes that we have ever found. It also has many longer and more difficult hikes, so something for everyone.
