Just back from a nice weekend camping trip to Excelsior Campground which is in the Mt. Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest. I forgot to charge my camera battery before leaving, which is a shame as it really is breathtakingly beautiful up there, esp. the views of Shuksan and Mt. Baker from Artist Point and the glacier-fed Nooksack Falls. I’ll have to show other’s images instead (click image to go to original website):
It was our first camping trip in, like, eight years! The last time we went, Malcolm was about six weeks old, and ironically it was also organized by our friends Andy & Tracy who invited us along on this one (Editor’s Note: Show a little more initiative, eh?). Luckily we had a nice REI tent courtesy of my brother Dave, an unused backpacking stove and some sleeping bags, plus an air mattress that we use for guest visitors/overflow that we stuffed into our little tent. Suffice to say we are not expert at camping.
Luckily our friends were though: Andy’s dad Steve and various relatives & friends had reserved the group site at Excelsior and our friend Marleen & her son Julian (Malcolm’s BFF, in actuality) came along too. Steve Bauck and friends have been getting together for their annual camping trip for over 30 years. There were over 20 adults and 7 or so kids at our site, so there was lots of hands and expertise, and the river bank location (the Nooksack River is glacier-fed from Shuksan/ Mt. Baker, and the crushed rock in the water gives the river a silvery grey color) is a great playground for kids.
It was an interesting group of people at our campsite. Andy’s dad Steve is a great guy, and his friends and family were interesting, literate and fun to chat with. Most of them were close to or at retirement age, so they had a relaxed air about them that those of us with a long way to go do not yet possess :). Meeting new and interesting people definitely made the camping more social and fun for me, and having Marleen and Julian with us made it nice for Malcolm and Susan as well.
The weather was nice when we arrived on Friday but turned drizzly on Saturday. The drizzle made hiking unattractive but the view from Artist Point (near the Mt. Baker ski area and summit) was incredible: After the 10th-or-so “wow” I finally stopped saying “wow”. It was freezing at the lookout turnaround – 10’ of snow remained and they’d only plowed the road a few days earlier, no alpine hikes this time – but it was quite spectacular anyway.
Being novice campers, we made some mistakes. The air mattress deflated each night so the tent interior was like a kid’s “bouncy castle” at a birthday party after a while, making for hilarous attempts to move around and get comfortable, and I had to drag the air mattress out and refill it using power from the car, getting it wet and other tent contents wet in the process. We also brought way too much food for the occasion. But we can refine it next time (hopefully sooner than eight years) and try again.
Now Michael,
You need to admit that Artist Point was completely socked in when we were there and the view of Baker looked nothing like the photo above. Certainly still attractive though, and the rain stopped in the evening.
Also, in the interest of accuracy, that gang has only been camping together for 7-8 years or so.
-Andy
Posted by: bauckus | August 02, 2010 at 08:01 PM
Hey Andy -- Yep I did say those weren't my photographs and that there was snow up there... still beautiful though!
One of your dad's friends said they'd been camping since you were a little 'un == approx. 30 years, must've been the wine talking ;).
Posted by: misha | August 02, 2010 at 08:32 PM