Wrestling with either a re-visit to Mt. Baker's Railroad Grade / Park Butte Lookout or heading south to Mt. Pilchuck.
I've been to RR Grade/Park Butte a number of time in fantastic weather - and it's a fantastic place... with some areas still unexplored that need to be checked out sometime.
I've also been to Pilchuck multiple times, but only to the summit once... in a snow storm. The one time I've been on the Pilchuck trail in the sun was the time that the black biting flies created a MISERABLE environment... so bad that I called it quits.
Sure, there are a lot of other worthy sunny-weather-fall-color hikes I'd like to be doing, but just not solo. That's the downside of unexpected weekday hiking opportunties. So I'll stick with familiar trails.
If it weren't so late I'd consider hitting up Craig Romano or Vince Richardson to see if they'd be interested in a day hike.
Baker's RR Grade is closer to home, but the road is about as dusty (or muddy) as it gets. Pilchuck road is 'less' dirty (more gravel), but more prone to vehicle break-ins.
Since I enjoyed views of Baker today and also reached the peak of Table Mountain... probably it will keep life in balance if I go summit Pilchuck and take sunny pictures of Pilchuck's surrounding dramatic peaks instead of spending another day on Mt. Baker.
So... Pilchuck it is.
Depending on how that goes, maybe I'll explore other areas out in that neighborhood too (unlikely, but you never know).
No 4pm curfew for Tuesday, so the day feels a lot more flexible and relaxing than what went on today. Whew!
Happy Trails!
No comments:
Post a Comment