Heliotrope Ridge 08-16-2020

 It was a gorgeous sunny day - ended up being the hottest of the year - and Justus had the day off.  This hike has been on my list for years, but I had never made it up north to hike it.  Today was the day!  Bringing the adventure dogs meant getting an early start and planning on some slower hiking with breaks to avoid the heat and accommodate Cedar being older now.

We got to the trailhead about 9am and the parking lot was full, but there were not too many cars along the road yet.  The road was supposed to be pretty bad, but after the ones on the Mountain Loop Hwy, it was a piece of cake.  It was a pretty drive too, with some river views and lovely bridges.

A great thing about this hike, especially on such a warm day, is that there are quite a few water crossings.  This is also a detriment in some seasons, because at times they can be dangerous.  Even with the water level being pretty low and manageable, there were a couple I carried Cedar and Luna across.

Wildflowers were abundant - I didn't see a huge variety, but what was blooming there was a lot of - lupine,  red willow-herb, yellow daisy type flowers and a variety of others.  

The first part of the hike winds up through the trees, and as we gained elevation we noticed more alpine varieties and less of the large firs and spruces.

The first glimpse of some of the cracked towers of ice that make up the edge of the Coleman Glacier, gleaming glacier-blue against the cap of Mt Baker was stunning!  And it just got prettier from there on.  Once we rounded a large glacially-carved rock and got to the Ridge that runs along the glacier, the view was just spectacular.  The glacier itself was mesmerizing - pits, valleys, arches, chasms, and water-carved channels intricately woven across the expanse of living ice.  

We ate our lunch, got some nice video of Justus spinning his Devil sticks (we agreed to stay way from the cliff edge), and then reluctantly left our gorgeous vantage point.  

Apple Watch stats:  6.59 mi RT, 1774 ft of elevation gain.

This is definitely a hike I'll want to come back to.  I don't know if it is even possible to spend 'enough' time up on the ridge looking over that great glacier.  

Happy (and safe) hiking!

Padilla Bay 1-20-2013

Dave and I left the dogs behind in the land of fog so we could look at birds at sunny Padilla Bay.  We were really hoping to see a snowy owl, but unfortunately there were none to be seen.  The day was so enjoyable though, even owl-less that we had a terrific time and I highly recommend this lovely hike.

We were first greeted by a hawk, perched up in a tree watching for small critters in the grass below.

 

The next thing we saw was a pair of blue herons in courtship! I have never seen this before and it was really beautiful.  They walked along in tandem at first with their heads pointed up at the sky like snobby feathered ballerinas, then the male (I assume) held his wings down at different angles.  It seemed it would be a long courtship, so we took some photos and some video and then walked on. 

 

We saw a little sandpiper nibbling along in the mud on just one stilt.  His useless leg was tucked up under his wing, but despite his disability he seemed to be doing pretty well for himself.

 

There were a couple types of sandpipers that we saw while we were here.

 

There was a cool old barn along the walkway also.  Dave peeked inside and said it is now being used as a boathouse.

There was a cormorant here, drying its wings and soaking up some sunshine from the top of a piling.

There were many varieties of ducks all along the walk.  There were so many of them swishing their beaks for things in the mud that you could hear the squishy gobbling sound quite loudly.  It was pretty funny.

Northern Pintail- there were a lot of these

Green Wing Teal- his little mask shone green in the sun

After leaving Padilla Bay, we stopped by the Spirit Island area to again check for owls.  We saw a lot of hawks, and this stately heron.

It was an incredible sunset, both the golds and peaches to the west behind Spirit Island, and the glowing rose that lit up Mt Baker to the east.  What a perfect day.