With such promising weather, I burned through some time off to bask in dazzling Cascade glory. I ascended into winter under the beaming countenance of our local volcano, Kulshan. It remained so the three days I was out- sunny, warm, and nary a dissenting breeze. There was complete silence except for a Middle Fork Nooksack lullaby and occasional Ravens playing on the updrafts. It is nice to visit this area before it is sacrificed to posses of shrieking, stinking, snow-machine jockeys. Moonless nights nearly out-did the flawless days. Stars stuffed the LO panes throughout the long nights. And as a rare treat, one I have experienced only three other times, the Aurora Borealis snuck over the border to delight citizens in the lower 48. Much sleep was surrendered to the display of cold northern fire. Curtains and pillars of deep reds and pale green flared, faded, and shimmered. Kulshan hogged much of the view, but I was one satisfied dharma. If that wasn’t enough, meteors sliced through the show, imparting cosmic counterpoint to earthly spectacle. The final morning dawned as promising as the former, but with an unfamiliar breeze. Lenticulars began adorning, the Sisters, Kulshan, and progressive peaks eastward. This seasonal mountain resident surrendered the heights reluctantly, but with renewed spirit. It has been a wonderful season and dare not ask for more, but probably will after sitting still for a week or so. Happy Trails!

A friend and I slogged our way up to the Park Butte lookout. The bridge over Rock Creek was washed out in last fall's flooding and the creek has changed course. I forded the creek a month ago and it was pretty dicey then with the glacial melt and hot weather. On 9-14-04, the creek looked nothing like it had a month previous. It changed course again and was swifer and deeper from the rain. We planned to stay 2 nights but came out after only one because it began snowing and then rained all night. We were worried about the creek rising. Sure enough, it was pretty scarey crossing. We had the whole area and lookout to ourselves. There were just 2 other cars at the trail head and those were for workers replacing the wooden slabs on the first part of the trail. Today as we came out, we passed 4 guys and their dog (the dog had to be carried over the creek) who were headed up to the look-out. Good thing we left when we did! It would have been a very unpleasant night in a tent, cold, wet and windy (12 mph at the top). The look-out is awesome. It is first come - first serve and very popular. Unfortunately for us, there were no views of much of anything other than fog and a few trees.

Bridge still wash-out, plan to wade across. Was not posted at trailhead.

Very glad to have the Derrs and the Allans with us today. Just over 100 miles and two hours to the TH. Clouds were hanging on the high peaks. Blueberries started right outside the parking lot. The high bush kind are a lot better than the low bush kind, if still a week or two away from peak. We did not see the bear hanging out in the meadow. A few foresty switchbacks, and then more meadow. This trail is very open the whole way. Stay left at all junctions, and notice the lookout above. Wander past the trees and tarns where the best pictures of Koma Kulshan can be taken. The clouds dropped down to about 7000' just before reaching the LO. That was it for views. The LO is in great shape, thanks to adoption by Fred Darvill and the Skagit Alpine Club, the same group who maintains Hidden Lake Peaks LO. You can stay the night, with a gas stove in place, a telescope, and a privy just below. Missing: Views, bugs and crowds. Present: Lewis Monkey flower, berries, and rain on the way out. This trail has some very rocky sections, and a dicey creek crossing over a muddy torrent. Not for the fainthearted. Without the rain and clouds this could be a spectacular hike. 7 miles R/T, a casual 4:30 away from the car.

Parke Butte trail is an easy-moderate trail, in my opinion. We had three in our party ranging from mid fifties to early seventies in age. Rocky Creek was a bit of a problem. Two of us waded across between the red trail markers on both sides. Wading in the am was not hard. The third member went upstream, maybe, a 1/4 of a mile where two downed trees lie end to end and crossed over on the trees. Coming back down to Rocky Creek in the pm, we found the creek had become higher and faster(as expected). One of us, even with two hiking poles was lucky to keep his balance, which isn't good to start with, as he waded across. A number of younger folks had no apparent trouble rock hopping (although some got their feet wet). Rest of the trail to Parke Butte was very well maintained and pretty easy in my opinion.