WOW would be an understatement for the sight of stars
covering the sky as far as the eye could see as we stepped out of the lookout
after a delicious dinner consisting of polenta and hearty stew and found
comfortable seats on the boulders nearby to enjoy the show. The night was calm
and moonless; the darkness long swallowed the surrounded mountains and only an
occasional dim flicker of light at the bottom of the valley reminded us of the
civilization some 3000 feet below.
Life could not get much better considering that we had no
idea what our destination will be when we left Seattle earlier that morning. All we knew was
that Sahale Glacier Camp, our original choice for the weekend, was full, and so
were Pelton Basin and Basin Creek as we learned upon
our arrived at Marblemount Ranger Station. Our choices shrunk but we were in North Cascades, and even the
limited options called for a tough decision – camp along the ridge of Sourdough
Mountain with a spectacular view of Ross Lake to feed our eyes, or head to the
Hidden Lake cross country zone to spend the night in the company of some of the
most amazing mountains in the area. There were 2 groups already headed that
way, and though chances of spending the night in the lookout itself were slim,
but we were due for the annual visit so the decision was made to camp by Hidden Lake
anyway.
It was an ideal day, warm but not too hot and practically
windless with blue sky and clear view of the surrounding mountains which slopes
started showing first signs of fall as the flowers faded and the blueberry
foliage turned them crimson red.
Our energy level was surprisingly high, and we zoomed
through the forested part of the trail, and entered into the meadow, where the
trail was the steepest. We did not let the incline slow us down, and even under
the load of overnight packs made a good time to the top of the hill. This was
where we caught up several backpackers, taking a break after this challenging
section and wishing them a good day we passed them and let the trail lead us
on, traversing the slope on nearly a flat path with amazing views of Mt. Baker
and other peaks everywhere around us.
Soon we arrived to the final section, a faint path and a
boulder field, and then there was the reward – a 360 degree view of North Cascades.
The sound of guitar and a chorus of voices from the summit was an unusual
welcome, and as we got even closer, a smell of freshly made chicken noodle soup
added to our curiosity.
The source was a group of 6 Ukrainian teenagers who arrived
at the lookout at an early morning hour with an intention to spend the night;
however now after nearly whole day up there they were reconsidering their plan,
and indeed after about an hour of deliberating the group announced that they
have made their decision…. and that they will be heading back down.
So there we were, moving in the lookout for the night
together with Dave, a navy pilot, who arrived to the top shortly ahead of us,
and was happy to share the lodging. We ate dinner with a view of stunning
sunset over Mt. Baker, watched the night sky with Milky
Way running right over our heads, and woke up to a colorful sunrise with its
red hues reflecting of the calm surface of the lake below us. One could hardly
find a better place to escape for the weekend!
