Flying Without My Wing(Wo)man, Yellow Aster Butte, 9.9.13 - 9.10.13
First of all, for those who haven't heard, Bridgit had major spinal surgery last week. She had spinal stenosis and bone spurs on her spine pushing on her spinal cord so they went in through her throat, cleaned it all up, fused two vertebrae and replaced some cartilage. It was a long surgery. Luckily, to pass the time while waiting in her hospital room for her to get out of surgery, the Broncos opened their 2013-2014 campaign against the reigning Superbowl champion Ravens. It was an epic game and Peyton threw for seven touchdowns to seal the deal. Thankfully, the surgery went very well (for her and the Broncos!) and she is home and recovering day by day. But after several days of doing all the laundry, the cooking, the cleaning, taking care of the dog, scrubbing toilets until my fingers bled, etc… she thought it might be wise for me to get out of the house.
The forecast called for perfect weather on Tuesday and Wednesday so I decided to do a one night solo backpack to a place called Yellow Aster Butte. Bridgit and I had been here before but that was late October of 1993. Andrew wasn't conceived on the summit of Yellow Aster Butte but as I recall that's where we decided we were both ready to have a child. But I digress. I hit the road at 5AM and made it to the trailhead at 8AM. My pack felt light with only one night's food. The first mile was fairly steep but thankfully in cool forest. At the head of the valley I passed a cutoff to Gold Run Pass and horseshoed back around the other side of the valley along the eastern flank of the butte. Soon the views opened up and to the south Mount Baker towered over the lower ridges.
Mt. Baker
On route to Yellow Aster Butte
Eventually I rounded the south shoulder and came to a spot that looked over a basin chock full of tarns. Since I was already most of the way up, I stashed my backpack behind some bushes, threw my lunch, my cameras and some water in my day pack and climbed up another 1/4 mile or so to the summit of Yellow Aster Butte.
View into the basin from the south shoulder of Yellow Aster Butte
It wasn't actually the true summit but I followed a long ridge line across and in no time at all was sitting on the actual peak. Below me was Tomyhoi Lake and directly across from me was the stunning trifecta of Mt Larrabee, American Border Peak and Canadian Border Peak.
View up from the south shoulder. Yellow Aster Butte is on the right.
The ridge leading over to the true summit of Yellow Aster Butte
I could see peaks in every direction. I didn't know the names of most of the Canadian peaks (I was less than a mile from the border), but I knew the names of tons of peaks to the east and south of my perch including the amazing Picket Range. To the south Mount Baker and Mount Shuksan dominated and far below the tarns were looking mighty inviting for a swim.
The border peaks and Tomyhoi Lake from the summit
Looking south across the basin to Mt. Baker
Wonderful basin full of tarns. I would set up my camp on the little knoll between the two tarns on the left.
I worked my way back across the ridge and down to where I had stashed my backpack and headed down a steep short descent to the tarn basin. I saw no other people in the upper basin so I found a great site in a clump of trees on top of a small hill that overlooked the entire basin. It was very centrally located which made it easy for extensive wanderings. After setting up my camp and having a little lunch it was still only 12:30 so I filtered some water and took off to explore. First I wandered up a big hill that looked down to the lower basin. I saw several other tents down there among some more great looking tarns. Some of the camps had amazing in your face views of Mt Shuksan and Baker. I didn't regret my camp decision though because I have seen those peaks many times and rarely have been up close to the Border Peaks.
The roaming was a blast with lots of knolls, nooks and crannies. I was looking for a secluded tarn to swim in. Up over one knoll away from the main basin I found exactly what I had in mind - a beautiful isolated tarn with a commanding view of Mount Baker but it was already occupied by a very naked guy standing on the shore. I thought it might sound weird if I asked him if there was room for one more so I apologized for the intrusion and moved on.
Majestic Mt. Shuksan
I crossed various gulches and ridges and with no timetable or agenda just slowly circled the entire main upper basin. Along the way I had great views of the entire ridge line of Yellow Aster Butte and passed by lots of small and large tarns, each one with unique characteristics.
Ridgeline from the south shoulder on the right to the true summit of Yellow Aster Butte on the left
By now I had been wandering for hours in the warmest part of the day and I was really eager to test the waters. Many of the tarns were pretty shallow but I picked one that had rocks along the shore that made it easy to get far enough out in the lake to swim. The water was really nice. It was cold enough to be super refreshing but totally warm enough to wallow in. Heaven on Earth!
After swimming I worked my way back to my awesome campsite for dinner. Neighbor Greg let me borrow his bear vault. A bear vault is a small clear plastic barrel with a lid that double locks and supposedly bears can't smell what's in them or get in one even if they could smell the food inside. I guess the bears are smart enough to get into the single lock ones so now they have double locking lids. Anyway, I wasn't too worried about bears. I took my stove, cook kit, water and food down by the shore of the lake right by my camp and cooked up some teriyaki chicken and watched the afternoon light get better by the minute.
My idyllic camp with killer views
By the time I finished dinner and put my gear away, the breezes settled down, the light began to glow and I spent the next two hours with some of the best photography conditions I had ever experienced. I once again grabbed my camera gear and wandered throughout the basin just marveling at the beauty I was surrounded by.
Beautiful evening light on the border peaks
Last rays on Mt. Shuksan
Golden glowing mushrooms
I was especially pleased with the last light of day lighting up the peaks while the tarns stayed so calm it was hard to tell the reflections from the real thing. Stunning. By the time it was dark I was thoroughly content. It was warm, the stars were out and I slept with both tent flaps rolled up.
Canadian Border Peak and American Border Peak
In the morning the sunrise wasn't as good as the previous night's sunset due to the position of the area I was in but Mount Baker in particular was really nice. After I brewed up my morning coffee I packed up and headed out. This was only the second time in my life I have backpacked alone. The first time was many years ago in Colorado before I knew anything about backpacking. I found this time to be incredibly satisfying. I still prefer to hike with my beautiful wife, but this was a truly rewarding trip and even though it was only for one night, it was a night I will remember forever.
Dawn’s light on Mt. Baker