Anderson Lake

I woke up trying to figure out where to hike today. Whidbey Island was fogged in and gray and I wanted to enjoy the sunshine that I knew was a little further inland. I decided to go up to Anderson and Watson Lakes, near Baker Lake.

I crossed Baker Dam and then traveled about another 10 miles up the dirt road, reaching the trail head about 11:45 am. I shouldered my pack, put Sadie on the leash and headed up the trail. It was a climb right off the bat, and although not super steep, the 4,500 elevation gain from sea level had me quickly losing my breath. But eventually I crested a knoll and saw spread out before me a beautiful alpine meadow. 

There were several raised log trails, and I continued down and then up the meadow. The meadow was filled with small white flowers and a little steam flowed through that I easily crossed on strategically placed rocks.

At the top of the meadow was a small patch of snow and then the trail began to descend steeply.

A path cut off to the left that goes up to Anderson Butte, but I continued down to another meadow and when faced with the choice for Watson or Anderson Lake, Sadie took the turn to the right towards Anderson and I followed. It turned out to be a great choice. 

The trail quickly began to descend steeply over gnarly tree roots and rocks and then through the trees I caught a glimpse of a beautiful green alpine lake.

I paused to enjoy the view and then began to search for a way across the creek flowing out of the lake. There were several choices of rocks and logs and I hopped across on some logs. I meandered around the far side of the lake, gazing at the views of the lake, surrounding meadow and mountains. I was the only person there.

After exploring around the end of the lake for awhile, I found a large rock, took off my socks and boots, and tested out the water. It was clear, cool and refreshing, and I splashed happily, until I finally just pulled my feet up and contemplated the beauty surrounding me. The only sounds I heard were the birds calling, the gurgle of water flowing in and out of the lake, and the drone of bugs. There were a lot of bugs around, but nothing that bit me. The solitude and silence filled up my soul as I sat in quiet contemplation. After many minutes, I dried off the feet, put my socks and boots back on, and began to explore the meadow. Up the hill I found a perfect camping spot with a fire ring where you could sit and see the lake and Mt. Baker in the distance. Hmm, I think an overnight trip might be in order!

By now it was time to start the trek back to the car and I crossed the steam back to the other side of the lake and headed up the steep hill with 500 feet elevation gain. I paused frequently to catch my breath. As hard as going up is, I actually prefer it to going down, where I have to be so careful to place my feet and trekking poles so that I don't take a tumble.

Finally I reached the little snow patch again and I filled up my cap with snow and placed it on my head to cool down. Ah, so refreshing! And now I could gaze out and down the meadow at Mt. Baker in the distance. I simply stood in awe of the view, enjoying the moment.

Mt. Baker dominated the view through the meadow until I reached the shade of the forest again. I arrived at my car and was glad that I'd remembered to put up my  NW forest pass as I saw that the car next to me had a ticket on it! 

As I traveled back down the dusty dirt road I pulled over a few times to snap some pictures of Mt. Baker. The views were simply stunning.

The road was in pretty good shape except for the one vehicle bridge. It looked like there was a hole in one of the wooden beams but the bridge was wide enough that I skirted past it without a problem in my mid sized Ford Escape. I got out after and walked over to inspect it (probably should have done that first!) and discovered that there really is a hole in the bridge! Yesh!

You can't really tell from this picture, but where the black is you can actually see down to the water below. Despite the sketchy bridge, this hike was a great one, and I thoroughly enjoyed my day.