Each year, on a Saturday morning we would have a scrumptious huckleberry pancake breakfast followed by hiking from Bird Lake up through Bluff Lake to Hell Roaring, onto shale ridge (Whale Back) to the Glacier Lake, where the water is the most brilliant blue/green I have ever seen, and continued on to Base Camp.
All the while making stops to soak up the beauty and tranquility of it all. The old growth and new growth. The tall trees and dwarf trees. The small fragrant bushes and the bright desert paint brush and taking pictures of the views and the waterfalls. On the way back down, we would hook into the Round the Mountain Trail somewhere near Frog Pond and finally walk along the back side of Bird Lake to our campground. Just one of many adventures we would take and share with others.
This Mountain is my absolute favorite place on earth. It is filled with wonderful memories. It is my happy place. When I saw the post Cougar Fire pictures yesterday I was devastated. I feel as though a piece of me has died. I grieve for that gorgeous Mountain and all who live there.My family and friends and I will be going up to help replant when we get the okay from the rangers. It was nice to see your piece on this (What I Will Miss). I share in your feelings of loss. Thank you for the opportunity comment.
Jenni,
I and other board members of Friends of Mount Adams are hopeful that the Yakama Nation will move quickly to restore the roads, campground at Bird Lake (which was destroyed) and the two trails that lead out of the lake to the edge of the burn, such as the Bluff Lake Trail. Other trails in the Bird Creek Meadows have not been affected, except for a small portion of the Round-the-Mountain Trail on the eastern edge of the meadows. Otherwise, nearly all of Bird Creek Meadows were spared by the fire, including the trail between Bluff Lake and the meadows.
Jenny, Darryl and I can certainly relate to your experiences in the Bird Creek Meadows and above! Interesting that you dubbed Suksdorf Ridge as “Whaleback”, the moraine-dammned late as “Glacier Lake” (we always called it “iceberg lake”), and Sunrise Camp as “Base Camp”. A very special area, indeed! We Friends of Mount Adams are looking forward to discussing with the Yakama Tribe how we can assist in post-fire restoration of the area.