Found My Thrill On Blueberry Hill - High Pass, 9.25.18
As far as hiking in the Cascades is concerned, could there be a better month than September? Not too hot, not too cold, less bugs, less people, ripe berries and vivid color. After a summer of choking fire smoke and thick haze, I was chomping at the bit for some good fall weather. Neighbor Greg and Dilley felt the same as I did so when Tuesday’s forecast looked clear and sunny, off we went in search of adventure.
Our first chore was to get to the trailhead. Several reports mentioned how bad the road conditions were on the high switchbacks but Dilley and his Ford Escape had no trouble navigating the ruts and washouts. The morning light was magical right at the trailhead, which is centered between two lovely little lakes appropriately called Twin Lakes. This first part may sound familiar because Bridgit and I started out from this same trailhead back in the fall of 2014 when we stayed overnight in a fire lookout on the summit of Winchester Mountain. From that summit I looked over at a beautiful ridge coming off Mount Larrabee and made a mental note to go back and explore that ridge.
One of the Twin Lakes and Winchester Mountain from the trailhead
We started up the Winchester Mountain trail but came to a junction with the High Pass trail after the first quarter mile. The High Pass trail traverses around the northern flank of Winchester Mountain, climbs to the top of the ridge at Low Pass and then meanders up the crest of the ridge to High Pass. Winchester Mountain is very close to the Canadian border so as we hiked, many Canadian peaks could be seen across the valley of Silesia Creek.
Dilley surveying Canada
The trail initially dropped a couple of hundred feet as it wound around Winchester Mountain but soon we began to climb and Mount Larrabee came into view. Wow what an impressive sight! To gain access to the ridge, we switchbacked up steeply through an avalanche chute. This chute was completely covered from top to bottom with blueberry bushes. The leaves turn a brilliant red in the late fall and every bush was bursting with big juicy blueberries. Knowing that our better halves would not let us back in the door without something to show for our hard work, we decided to stop on the way back and pick a few.
As we crested the ridge at Low Pass we not only had a great view of our destination but also new views to the south. Beautiful Mount Baker dominated the scene but also Yellow Aster Butte, Tomyhoi Peak and the entire length of the lovely Nooksack Ridge.
Neighbor Greg, Mount Larrabee and High Pass. We went up even higher to the top of the center knoll on the right side of the photo.
Of course, the higher we climbed, the more came into view and our eyes feasted on a sea of peaks in all directions.
Mount Baker towering to the south
After a steep section of long switchbacks up through a hillside of hard dirt, we made it to a saddle high on a shoulder coming off of Mount Larrabee. A short climb from the saddle put us at the top of a bare knoll at about 6,800’. Wow! Behind us Larrabee towered. The Pleaides' jagged pinnacles connected to Larrabee. To the north were tons of peaks in Canada that I have no idea the names of. To the east we were gazing into the entire northern unit of North Cascades National Park. We could name most of the peaks in that direction and spotted several peaks and areas we had been to previously.
We sat in the very pleasant sunshine and ate lunch, took photos and tried to name as many peaks as we could. Suddenly a plane flew overhead with a huge banner behind it that said, “Have you picked our berries yet?”. So with tears in our eyes we packed up and dropped off the knoll to head back down.
Dilley, me and Neighbor Greg
The trail down from High Pass to Low Pass
The color on the mountainsides was absolutely brilliant
Dilley and Neighbor Greg
As we dropped below Low Pass, we all stopped at various spots to pick the wild blueberries. I think Dilley picked the most because he had the most at stake. Neighbor Greg and I are married so after all these years our wives have learned to expect failure. With that said, we were all quite successful seeing as how there were enough berries just on that one hillside to feed every bear in the world for several months. Wild blueberry muffins shall be eaten!
Looking across Silesia Creek into Canada
This was my first hike with both Gregs (Neighbor Greg and Greg Dilley) and a good time was had by one and all. We stopped at the Northwoods Beer Shrine for dinner on the way home and had a great meal. Just a great day to be alive!