Thursday, September 25, 2008

Driving to Mt Baker


It is something of a scandal that it was not until a week and a half ago that I had seen the mountains of the West Coast. I fell in love, and would like to go back. In an Airstream...with man and cat.

We made a day trip from Vancouver to Mt Baker, and found snow, lush grass, snowmelt streams, flowers, and fish. Small salmon, I say. Trout, says Vince. Feesh, says the cat, thinking about the Airstream.

The trees cathedralling the narrow road through the tiny hamlet of Glacier and up to the mountains made me think of (seemed to be humming it in fact), Angelo Badalamenti's theme music for Twin Peaks.

It is countryside fabled and ingrained in me through reading and through countless movies; absorbed Americana, first visited. I think my eyes were shining.

Below, Mt Baker.

And Mt Shuksan.


And a little cairn we made for Jay and Guy. They made one for us in the Kgalagadi. Stone prayers.

An alpine slope.

And a lake near Heather Meadows, characterized by another lake, fed by many rushing, icecold streams and endless carpets of spongy, emerald moss.

Vince on the path to the turquoise lake in the basin at Heather Meadows...


Clean, clean water. The sound of it everywhere.

The larger stream where we saw many fish.

Mt Shuksan in a photograph that I imagine has made many postcards. It's almost too kitschly perfect to publish. The kind of bad oil painting that hangs over dusty sofas.

6 comments:

  1. No, no, not an oil painting but one of those paint-by-numbers murals... ;-)

    The man and the cat would be happy to join you on the Airstream. And we could hang the oil painting over the sofa in it...

    ReplyDelete
  2. Thanks for the cairn, we love the height, the taper and the precariously angled stones at the top!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Outstanding beauty. Incredible vistas. Pure unspoiled wilderness. Love that turquoise lake! Wonderful photos....more please...

    ReplyDelete
  4. I lived in Bellingham for 2 years, and have since moved away. Thank you so much for allowing me to relive the wonderful times we had at Mt. Baker. It is an amazing place that takes your breath away! We made Mt Baker Hwy our Sunday drive on a weekly basis. LOVE IT!!!

    ReplyDelete
  5. This area is a very beautiful place to live - I've been here 22 years after moving from the S.F.Bay Area.

    ReplyDelete
  6. I live an hour from Mt. Baker near the Canadian border. I'm so glad that you enjoyed your visit here. It is God's country. I stumbled onto your site while surfing for photos of Mt. Baker. Your blog is lovely. It's so interesting to see how you grow things in such limited spaces!

    ReplyDelete

Comments on posts older than 48 hours are moderated (for spam control) . Yours will be seen! Unless you are a troll. Serial trollers are banned.