Artist Point Snowshoe

January 14, 2017

To start off the most perfectly planned 30th birthday weekend, Andy took me on a snowshoe trip to Artist Point in Mount Baker - Snoqualmie National Forest. The drive was easy and long. The Civic in front of us made it up to the parking lot with no problem.

It was a gloriously sunny and warm Saturday morning. We arrived at the parking lot around 10:00 am and found princess parking right up front. To our surprise there was still quite a bit of parking available so late in the morning. Parking was free and there are a couple restrooms available in the lot.

The hike is 4 miles roundtrip in and out, but was more for us with all the exploring. We began to the left of the restrooms and immediately right of the ski/snowshoe rope. As this was our first time up on Baker, we didn't know what to expect but got just what we wanted - long, rolling hills of snowy landscape. We meandered wherever and were in awe nearly the entire time. Cabins buried in snow, windswept trees, and serpentine snowboarding/ski tracks on nearby slopes surrounded us. This was my definition of a winter wonderland.

Table Mountain

Lead the way, Andy!

Excited to be at Artist Point

Mount Shuksan

View of Baker Lake

Mount Baker

This flat area is actually the summer parking lot!



Went on a less travelled area and another view of Table Mountain.

We stayed up and explored for about an hour before heading down to the lodge. We enjoyed a beer at the top before the drive to Bellingham.

Après-snowshoeing beer

We stopped at Boundary Bay Brewery to watch last quarter of the Seahawks vs. Falcons game. I drowned my sorrows in a delicious bowl of mac and cheese.

Stevens Pass - Yodelin

January 8, 2017

We'd originally planned to take the dogs on a hike to Franklin Falls, but due to the massive crowds and traffic reported in recent trip reports we decided to go elsewhere. Apparently Franklin Falls was on the front page of one of the Seattle newspapers a few weeks ago and because of its proximity to the city many people are braving the crowds to see the spectacular frozen waterfall.

While Plan B was to take a hike at Cherry Creek Falls, we instead drove to Stevens Pass for the snow. We ended up driving about one mile past Stevens Pass summit to the Yodelin lot. Here, we strapped on our snowshoes and let the dogs loose. It was fun to see Zoey, Otto, and Toby romping around the deep snow. It was the first time Otto and Toby had been in such deep snow. They had a blast and were tired for the rest of the day. The trip was short and sweet. Next time, however, we'll be sure to bring Toby's booties to prevent ice chunks from forming on his paws.

Heading back to the car to grab snowshoes

Toby's ice beard