Moving On... to Mt Baker

 Emotions swirled as the did the sky surrounding the fading sun....

I had a number of positive experiences in this little town that felt very welcoming.  Free concerts, inclusion in the marina community,  the complementary use of the bikes, walking about the streets and shops of the town and the welcoming attitude of the townspeople all led me to think of Anacortes as  one town I had visited in these weeks on the road as the most likely little town I would consider living in.

Often in tourist town, I have felt a mixed vibe, where the locals both love and hate the tourists that keep their little town on the map and viable secretly longing for them to be gone.  In Anacortes I felt that local people I met enjoyed sharing their little part of paradise with visitors and wanted you to love it too. 

After the encounter with the police officer, I felt a shadow over the sweet little town.  But really, many towns have individuals who enjoy their status and power in relationship to their job.  Should I really allow one individual to color how I feel about their town?  It was a sour ending note but not one that I wish to color the whole town with.  

I look back over my time in Anacortes with fondness and know that I will one day return. 

One thing I would like to emphasize, life happens on the road.... not all good, and not always with outcomes we would like to choose.  Like everywhere we live out our lives, we ultimately determine how we respond to life changes and altercations.  

So now on to Mt Baker...

Cascadian Farms is a well known maker of Health Food Products, cereals, granola's.  We visited their original farm, started in 1974. As a long time consumer of their products I decided to stop for a visit.

 

We stopped and had an ice cream fix made out of their fresh products.  I had a raspberry chocolate chip cone and Hailey had a chocolate espresso bean cone. 

We have so many ice cream memories of our journeys this summer!!

Yummy!

  

Along the roadside near........ is a roadside chapel.  There is a nice pull off so we decided to check it out. Certainly a  wonderful place for quiet reflection.... or a short sermon :)   I love little roadside chapels!.

 One of our first glimpses of Mt Baker.

Mt Baker is a difficult volcano to view as in sits in Cascade Range and it surrounded by huge mountains, and foothills that are covered by tall old growth timber stands.

I have lived most of my life in Washington State and yet there is more to see and learn about.  Probably the most unknown of the big volcanoes in the state is Mt Baker.  According to quick research, I found there are 5 volcanoes considered to be active in Washington State.  Mt Baker makes the fourth that we have visited thus far this summer. 

Stratovolcanoes are also called composite volcanoes because they are built of layers of alternating lava flow, ash and blocks of unmelted stone.  Stratovolcanoes erupt with great violence. Because they form in a system of underground channels, stratovolcanoes may blow out the sides of the cone as well as the summit crater that end will shells that do not always resemble the cone shape they started with.

All of the active Washington Volcanoes are examples of stratosphere  type of volcanoes.

                      
                                                              Last Erupted           Current Height
                             Mt Rainier                    ( 1894)                  14,411   
                             Mt Adams                  ( 950 AD)                12,277
                             Mt St Helens                (1980's)                   8,363
                             Mt Baker                       (1880)                   10,781
                            Glacier Peaks                (1700)                    10,541

Most volcano experts consider Mt St Helens the most likely to erupt next, while Mt Rainier has the potential to be most lethal.

   

Peek a Boo views can be seen from several view points as you drive on the East side of the majestic formation as you drive to Baker Lake.  As a lake fed by glacier and high mountain streams it has the Glacier color from the silk that is ground into a fine powder.  When sunlight reflects off it it gives the opaque green/blue color.

Rivers and streams carry the silk and rocks and boulders to new homes and are constantly changing the river scape.

Woodland streams and ponds are wonderful finds.

 Our one day visit to Mt Baker revealed there is more to be seen (A whole other access from the NorthWest and lots more hiking trails to explore.)  There are also several campgrounds that surround Lake Baker making it a wonderful spot to explore the mountain further.... but we are headed on to the North Cascades Highway.