Glacier Basin — Monday, Jul. 14, 2025

We left the Seattle heat for an afternoon hike in the mountains, and got a great wildflower show on the easy, beautiful Glacier Basin trail. The elecation gain on the trail is gradual enough that the main indicator of the altitude change is the change in plant community.

We saw bluebells, lupine, angelica, cascade asters, purple daisies, paintbrush, several kinds of orchids - including some gorgeous purple coralroot-looking ones right by the trailhead, shooting stars, bistort, moptops in seed, columbine, columbia lily, and the last of the glacier lilies, which will be all past bloom in a week. The top of the hike opens into Glacier Basin itself, which was nearly chilly with the wind off the snow, but we had regular mountain views all the way up.