Our first time visiting Mt. Baker area! The parking lot looked pretty full at 1 P.M after we ate lunch at the Austin Pass Picnic Area, but there was a spot waiting for us when we drove up to the trailhead. The trail looks fairly well maintained but stay aware and be careful as there is a lot of tripping hazards: loose medium-large rocks and some ditches along the trail. In the first meadow, I was gazing at the marvelous landscape not watching my step and I fell off into a small ditch and scratched up my knee.
The downed trees reported earlier are still on the trail but were not too hard cross.
The bugs in the forests & meadows were pretty bad, mostly swarms of flies and biting horseflies but they were very aggressive and seemed to follow us. As we approached golden hour, the mosquitoes suddenly emerged and joined the feeding frenzy. Bug spray didn't really seem to help.
The two snow fields mentioned earlier are still there, no new updates there.
During our break on some nice rocks around Lake Ann, we were pleasantly surprised that there was no bugs. The glacier and North Cascade views were vast and stunning. We saw there was a continued trail called Fischer's Chimney, but we opted to just turn back to not push ourselves too much. Looking up reviews online, it looks like a fairly intense climber's route, so I guess that was the right call for us.
On the way down, as I turned a corner while going through the forest, a large black dog was running full speed and almost crashed into me. It was very sudden, so at first glance, I thought it was a small black bear, which gave me quite the scare.
We saw a pika, butterflies, interesting bugs, grasshoppers, and birds. A fair number of wildflowers sprinkled about that were perfectly bloomed. Great day on the trail!!
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