Hudson Bay Mountain

Yesterday afternoon we hiked up on the ski hill of Hudson Bay Mountain.  I have been up there many times in my life, but other than when I have been up there in the winter, I have never seen so much snow up there.  There were snow patches all over: in the shadows, in the lower places, along the edges of larger rocks, and above us on the ridges.  We walked around some of the snow patches and across a few others.  Even before we left home we knew it would not have been a good time to try hike up to the peak, but being up there and seeing how much snow was left affirmed that fact.  In addition to the snow, there were lots of wildflowers, little streams and waterfalls, marshy areas, lakes, a few marmots, and LOTS of bugs.

Only one other year have I seen ice on Crater Lake.  This year not only was there ice on the lake, but also a large snow patch in front of it.  We decided not to cross the snow because we had been there before, we had a ways to go yet, and we did not particularly want to hike with wet feet.

After Crater Lake headed across the 'prairie' - the area on top of the ski hill which is also above the tree line.  Thankfully we were able to avoid getting our feet wet despite the streams and marshy areas.  At one point a marmot posed for me before returning to its hole.

We also stopped to get a view of town before heading down the mountain.  We could see some rain moving across the valley, but we didn't get any of the rain until we were in the van driving back home.

All the streams along the trail and across the 'prairie' are great for refilling water bottles and simply drinking with your hands.  We crossed a number of streams; some were small and we could simply step over them while others required jumping across or finding some good stepping stones.

In all we walked for about 2.5 hours.  It was not overly strenuous, but still good exercise.  At points I was warm in shorts and a t-shirt, but later I was glad to have a sweatshirt to wear.  The cool air and the breeze made my hands cold and stiff, but not quite numb.  Looking around up on the mountain I was reminded of God's greatness and majesty.  What a wonderful way to spend Sunday afternoon!