We hiked to Yellow Aster Butte on a sunny Tuesday.
The access road, Twin Lakes Road, is in good shape relative to my memories from previous years, with some potholes but nothing overly challenging. It is a steep, narrow, curvy forest road with one short, narrow section that that can be a bit intimidating. It cuts across an avalanche slope with a very steep drop-off one side, and there are only a couple of short pullouts wide enough to allow vehicles to pass each other. You could be faced with backing up a way to get to one of those. Fortunately, we only met a couple of vehicles coming down as we drove up, and none along the risky section.
The trailhead for Yellow Aster Butte is at a sharp switchback as the road climbs up another avalanche slope. Unfortunately, there is no parking lot, only a slight widening of the road at the turn. The only parking is along the shoulder of the road above and below the trailhead, which makes parking very limited. The widened area at the bend is the only good place for vehicles to turn around, especially larger vehicles such as pick-up trucks or vans. Fortunately, trail users had not parked in this area, leaving it open for everyone to use for turning around. This has been true every time I have used this trailhead, and I am always appreciative.
We arrived shortly after 10 a.m. and were lucky to find a place to park only about 100 yards above the trailhead. Cars were parked all along the sides of the three switchbacks, but several groups of backpackers from the previous night were leaving and we grabbed one of those vacated spots. That is an advantage of getting to the trailhead later in the morning.
The trail is in good shape all the way, albeit with many rocky sections. It is such a heavily used trail, you have to expect erosion and exposed rocks, but the trail bed is generally good enough that you can maintain a good pace and you don’t have to spend all the time looking at your feet. That is good, because the entire trail has delightful views. The mature fir/hemlock forest lower down is wonderful to walk through and once you emerge into the subalpine below the junction with the trail to Tomyhoi Lake, the mountain views are stunning for the rest of the hike.
The hardest section of the hike by far is the last 0.2 miles up the exposed flank of the Butte (see photo). The steep, rocky switchbacks are a bit of a challenge going both up and down, and we were grateful for our hiking poles and good boots. However, that section is short and the views are incredible. It is well worth the effort. We stopped at the first summit, which is a broad heather-covered knoll with incredible 360-degree views. I had always thought this high knoll was Yellow Aster Butte but apparently the true Butte is further along the trail (more on that later). In any case, the high knoll makes a wonderful lunch spot, and we lingered for over an hour just taking in the views all around. Several other groups came and went, but there was lots of room for privacy. The views of Mounts Shuksan and Baker to the southeast and south were a little obscured by a smokey haze (see photo), but the views to the north and west were crystal clear (see photos).
The trail to the true Yellow Aster Butte continues northeast from the knoll (see photo) but we elected not to continue. I have never attempted that last section. The initial part is a very steep, narrow descent and did not look appealing, especially for taking our dog. Returning hikers told us that the end of the trail requires a scramble up the rocky peak which would not be ok for a dog. Given that intel, we contented ourselves with the first knoll.
Overall, this is a great trail with a lot of reward for relatively modest effort. This is a shoulder season for hiking in the alpine, the summer flowers are dead or dying and the autumn colors are not quite in full display, but there was some autumn color, mainly from the purple-red blueberry bushes and the brilliant red mountain ash berries. The best reward for hiking now is the bumper crop of blueberries all along the trail. I have never seen so many blueberries and they are big and juicy. I grazed my way up and down the trail. Most of the other hikers were doing the same and we smiled at each other with blue-stained teeth and lips. Lower down some of the berries are already past ripe but there are still plenty of good ones left up in the higher meadows. Just one of the many joys of hiking in the PNW.
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