July 4, 2018 - Mount Baker Recreation Area

We traveled to Mount Baker Recreation Area to visit several attractions along the Mount Baker Scenic Byway (Route 542).  Our plan was to visit the Heather Meadows Visitor Center for tour information first.  After we got into Mount Baker Recreation Area, we were able to view the beautiful Mount Baker from many different spots along the way driving up to Heather Meadows Visitor Center. 

When we got closer to the top, we realized that there was still snow on the ground near the visitor center.  After we inquired park rangers in the visitor center, we were told that many hiking trails near the visitor center still had snow on it and most of them were impassable at this time of the year.  She suggested us to drive up to Artist Point to see the beautiful view up there.  It was another 20 minutes drive on the winding road up to Artist Point.  When we got there, we realized that it is on top of a mountain, and there were skiers still doing skiing there.  The temperature was not that low so we could walk around wearing short sleeves.  It was a different experience with wearing spring clothing and walking on the snow.  The view were just spectacular.  Also, we had our lunch there.

Then, we drove down from the mountain, stopped by Picture Lake and hiked on the Picture Lake Trail.  It is an easy and short trail. We saw a picture on the national park’s guide showing a beautiful lake picture with Mount Baker as the backdrop along with wonderful reflection of Mount Baker on the lake water.  We tried very hard to find this spot which would provide us the opportunity of taking an equally good reflection picture.  After several tries, we finally found the spot and was able to wait for clam water on the lake and got the chance of seeing wonderful reflections of Mount Baker on the Picture Lake.  Needless to say, we took the opportunity of taking many photos.

On our way back to Mount Baker Scenic Byway (Route 542), we stopped by the Nooksack Falls and had a wonderful time.