Mt. Baker, Washington – Day 4

The motorhome is parked at Thousand Trails Birch Bay RV Resort in Blaine, Washington. This location marks the furthest northern most point of our planned 2014 travels. I’ve been here several times over the years and always enjoy the area. We will depart from here later this morning.

Four days ago I drove the Bronco from Birch Bay to Mt. Baker so we could do some photography. We departed at 8:30 AM and returned at 4:30 PM traveling a total of 146 miles. We drove to the end of the road which is at Artists Peak, elevation 5,220 feet.

Cloudy skies provided harsh mid-day overhead lighting conditions which causes a washed-out look…definitely a poor photographic situation, but…such is life!

The below Google earth image shows the area with the X marking our camping location…

As always you may left click upon an image to see an enlarged view and then click once again to see an even larger view…

Here are some of the photos that I took. All of today’s photos were taken in the watercolor mode…

To read all about Mt. Baker, click this Wikipedia link… http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mount_Baker

Yesterday I had a telephone conversation regarding my cataract surgery. Pre-operation examination and consultation is set for September 29th…surgery on October 9th.

Yesterday was a sunny at 84 degrees. Forecast for today is cloudy/sunny with a couple of thunderstorms and 76 degrees.

Enjoying nice weather is another joy in the life of a full-time RVer!

The red dot on the below map shows our approximate location in the State of Washington. You may double left-click the map to make it larger…

Enjoying 65-75 degree temperatures with low humidity most of the year is a primary joy in the RVing lifestyle!

“Life is like riding a bicycle. To keep your balance you must keep moving”…Albert Einstein

On October 27, 2012, I created a two-minute video titled America The Beautiful. The music America The Beautiful is by Christopher W. French. The photos, which I randomly selected, are from the states of Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Mississippi, Montana, New Mexico, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Texas, Tennessee, Washington and West Virginia (not shown in that order)…are mine. Yup, That’s me standing in front of the Post Office in Luckenbach, Texas…Y’all!

Click this link to start the video. Make sure you have your speakers turned on and go to full screen asap.
http://youtu.be/FfZUzEB4rM8

If you would like to see my YouTube videos, click this link… http://www.youtube.com/user/JimJ1579/videos

There are more than 500 photo albums in my Picasa Web Albums File. To gain access, you simply have to click this link… https://picasaweb.google.com/jimjrver

If you have not checked out my Ramblin Man’s Photos Blog, you can do so by clicking this link…http://ramblinmanphotos.wordpress.com/

For more information about my books, click this link:
http://www.lulu.com/spotlight/panamaorbust

All original material Copyright – Jim Jaillet 2014

Mt. Baker, Washington – Day 3

The motorhome is parked at Thousand Trails Birch Bay RV Resort in Blaine, Washington. This location marks the furthest northern most point of our planned 2014 travels. I’ve been here several times over the years and always enjoy the area. We will depart from here tomorrow.

Three days ago I drove the Bronco from Birch Bay to Mt. Baker so we could do some photography. We departed at 8:30 AM and returned at 4:30 PM traveling a total of 146 miles. We drove to the end of the road which is at Artists Peak, elevation 5,220 feet.

Cloudy skies provided harsh mid-day overhead lighting conditions which causes a washed-out look…definitely a poor photographic situation, but…such is life!

The below Google earth image shows the area with the X marking our camping location…

As always you may left click upon an image to see an enlarged view and then click once again to see an even larger view…

Here are some of the photos that I took. More photos tomorrow…

To read all about Mt. Baker, click this Wikipedia link… http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mount_Baker

Yesterday was a sunny at 79 degrees. Forecast for today is sunny and 84 degrees.

Enjoying nice weather is another joy in the life of a full-time RVer!

The red dot on the below map shows our approximate location in the State of Washington. You may double left-click the map to make it larger…

Enjoying 65-75 degree temperatures with low humidity most of the year is a primary joy in the RVing lifestyle!

“Life is like riding a bicycle. To keep your balance you must keep moving”…Albert Einstein

On October 27, 2012, I created a two-minute video titled America The Beautiful. The music America The Beautiful is by Christopher W. French. The photos, which I randomly selected, are from the states of Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Mississippi, Montana, New Mexico, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Texas, Tennessee, Washington and West Virginia (not shown in that order)…are mine. Yup, That’s me standing in front of the Post Office in Luckenbach, Texas…Y’all!

Click this link to start the video. Make sure you have your speakers turned on and go to full screen asap.
http://youtu.be/FfZUzEB4rM8

If you would like to see my YouTube videos, click this link… http://www.youtube.com/user/JimJ1579/videos

There are more than 500 photo albums in my Picasa Web Albums File. To gain access, you simply have to click this link… https://picasaweb.google.com/jimjrver

If you have not checked out my Ramblin Man’s Photos Blog, you can do so by clicking this link…http://ramblinmanphotos.wordpress.com/

For more information about my books, click this link:
http://www.lulu.com/spotlight/panamaorbust

All original material Copyright – Jim Jaillet 2014

Mt. Baker, Washington – Day 2

The motorhome is parked at Thousand Trails Birch Bay RV Resort in Blaine, Washington. This location marks the furthest northern most point of our planned 2014 travels. I’ve been here several times over the years and always enjoy the area. Our departure date is set at August 12th.

Two days ago I drove the Bronco from Birch Bay to Mt. Baker so we could do some photography. We departed at 8:30 AM and returned at 4:30 PM traveling a total of 146 miles. We drove to the end of the road which is at Artists Peak, elevation 5,220 feet.

Cloudy skies provided harsh mid-day overhead lighting conditions which causes a washed-out look…definitely a poor photographic situation, but…such is life!

The below Google earth image shows the area with the X marking our camping location…

As always you may left click upon an image to see an enlarged view and then click once again to see an even larger view…

Here are some of the photos that I took. More photos tomorrow…

To read all about Mt. Baker, click this Wikipedia link… http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mount_Baker

Yesterday was a sunny at 73 degrees. Forecast for today is sunny and 78 degrees.

Enjoying nice weather is another joy in the life of a full-time RVer!

The red dot on the below map shows our approximate location in the State of Washington. You may double left-click the map to make it larger…

Enjoying 65-75 degree temperatures with low humidity most of the year is a primary joy in the RVing lifestyle!

“Life is like riding a bicycle. To keep your balance you must keep moving”…Albert Einstein

On October 27, 2012, I created a two-minute video titled America The Beautiful. The music America The Beautiful is by Christopher W. French. The photos, which I randomly selected, are from the states of Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Mississippi, Montana, New Mexico, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Texas, Tennessee, Washington and West Virginia (not shown in that order)…are mine. Yup, That’s me standing in front of the Post Office in Luckenbach, Texas…Y’all!

Click this link to start the video. Make sure you have your speakers turned on and go to full screen asap.
http://youtu.be/FfZUzEB4rM8

If you would like to see my YouTube videos, click this link… http://www.youtube.com/user/JimJ1579/videos

There are more than 500 photo albums in my Picasa Web Albums File. To gain access, you simply have to click this link… https://picasaweb.google.com/jimjrver

If you have not checked out my Ramblin Man’s Photos Blog, you can do so by clicking this link…http://ramblinmanphotos.wordpress.com/

For more information about my books, click this link:
http://www.lulu.com/spotlight/panamaorbust

All original material Copyright – Jim Jaillet 2014

MOUNT BAKER, CASCADE RANGE

Friday was chosen as the day to visit Mount Baker, because the crowds and traffic are considerably less than weekends during the summer. Winter, too, for that matter since Mount Baker is a ski area.

The drive up presented some beautiful scenery and tantalizing glimpses of the mountain. Mt. Baker is over 10,000 feet in elevation, but the road brings you to just over 5,000 feet.

We stopped at a little alpine lake and took pictures of the crystal clear water reflecting the backdrop of trees and mountain behind it.

The roadside was flush with wild flowers everywhere as we drove up.

A prolific mountain plant, this pink blooming flower stands in tall clusters.

Beneath the higher bushes, plain red clover produces huge blossoms in Washington.

The road is curvy, hairpins and I got a glimpse of what is to come.

Suddenly, you are in the parking lot, with a huge cloud misted mountain in clear view.

Trails beckon, and the weather was perfect for a hike. A bit overcast, best for picture taking, and cool. The air unbelievably fresh.

We kept climbing and watched as the now more stunted alpine flowers and trees put on their show.

Low to the ground, l would expect their name to be tiny pink alpine bells.

And every time you look up and pause, you can’t resist taking another picture of the mountain as you drink in its beauty, the cloud cover changes, the terrain changes.

To the right of this peak was a beautiful valley opening up.

The mountain side was colorful with bright green growth.

We finally reached what we called “the top of the world”, with our mountain still visible,  even more beautiful. It was about here that a friendly hiker, an older and wiser man then we, said, or what I heard was “… ole’ shookshank is really clear today.”  Professional pictures I’ve seen of Mt. Baker show it as a perfect snowy, sharp peak. Of course, this isn’t Mt. Baker, but it is part of the Mt. Baker range in the cascades.

As we hiked out, and I stood  oohing and ahhing about this gorgeous view another hiker asked me if I wanted my picture taken in front of Mt. Baker. I agreed.

And, I took another picture of it, and, if you notice that sharp sharks tooth peak?

Here is a close up of it.  It is a part of Mt. Baker, the peak is nearly always hidden behind that dark cloud and you don’t actually get to see Mt. Baker, unless you are in an airplane. In fact the pilot pointed it out to us as we passed over it but I wasn’t in a window seat and took no pictures from the plane. So, I actually did see Mt. Baker on my way here.

Were we disappointed?  Not a bit. It was a beautiful day, a beautiful mountain,  and I’ll post more pictures tomorrow. Jim’s eyes are bothering him enough that he tries to stay in areas he knows well. We don’t venture out as much. His cataract surgery isn’t until sometime in October.

 

Mt. Baker, Washington – Day 1

The motorhome is parked at Thousand Trails Birch Bay RV Resort in Blaine, Washington. This location marks the furthest northern most point of our planned 2014 travels. I’ve been here several times over the years and always enjoy the area. Our departure date is set at August 12th.

Yesterday I drove the Bronco from Birch Bay to Mt. Baker so we could do some photography. We departed at 8:30 AM and returned at 4:30 PM traveling a total of 146 miles. We drove to the end of the road which is at Artists Peak, elevation 5,220 feet.

Cloudy skies provided harsh mid-day overhead lighting conditions which causes a washed-out look…definitely a poor photographic situation, but…such is life!

The below Google earth image shows the area with the X marking our camping location…

As always you may left click upon an image to see an enlarged view and then click once again to see an even larger view…

Here are some of the photos that I took. More photos tomorrow…

To read all about Mt. Baker, click this Wikipedia link… http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mount_Baker

Yesterday was a cloudy/sunny at 71 degrees. Forecast for today is cloudy/sunny and 73 degrees.

Enjoying nice weather is another joy in the life of a full-time RVer!

The red dot on the below map shows our approximate location in the State of Washington. You may double left-click the map to make it larger…

Enjoying 65-75 degree temperatures with low humidity most of the year is a primary joy in the RVing lifestyle!

“Life is like riding a bicycle. To keep your balance you must keep moving”…Albert Einstein

On October 27, 2012, I created a two-minute video titled America The Beautiful. The music America The Beautiful is by Christopher W. French. The photos, which I randomly selected, are from the states of Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Mississippi, Montana, New Mexico, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Texas, Tennessee, Washington and West Virginia (not shown in that order)…are mine. Yup, That’s me standing in front of the Post Office in Luckenbach, Texas…Y’all!

Click this link to start the video. Make sure you have your speakers turned on and go to full screen asap.
http://youtu.be/FfZUzEB4rM8

If you would like to see my YouTube videos, click this link… http://www.youtube.com/user/JimJ1579/videos

There are more than 500 photo albums in my Picasa Web Albums File. To gain access, you simply have to click this link… https://picasaweb.google.com/jimjrver

If you have not checked out my Ramblin Man’s Photos Blog, you can do so by clicking this link…http://ramblinmanphotos.wordpress.com/

For more information about my books, click this link:
http://www.lulu.com/spotlight/panamaorbust

All original material Copyright – Jim Jaillet 2014