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.
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| Table Mountain |
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| Lead the way, Andy! |
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| Excited to be at Artist Point |
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| Mount Shuksan |
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| View of Baker Lake |
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| Mount Baker |
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| This flat area is actually the summer parking lot! |
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| 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.
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| 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.
