July, 2021
This second day (a Sunday) in Darrington was glorious. I couldn’t have asked for better weather for this camping trip.
I don’t ordinarily attend church (though I have in the past), but I did this Sunday morning because my family here does. It was wonderful, the music and the camaraderie, the faith and the love of the people in this small country church were really special. I really liked that. And I liked sitting next to my sister who is a bit older than I am, but neither of us cares about the years, we just love each other. And my niece is the most wonderful niece anyone could have.
After lunch, my niece and my sister and I ventured forth in their car for a summer day’s drive around about the area surrounding Darrington. It’s mostly woods and forests, and rivers, and bog lands, and lakes around here … and homes and farms and gorgeous blue sky, and birds. I didn’t take pictures, I just sat in that car and loved every minute of being in this world and being with family and our conversations. BUT, we came around one corner of the road to discover the view below … a warm afternoon, a glowing field, with cows and a home and a barn, with hills all around, and handsome Mt. Baker right square in the middle of the view.
Mt. Baker is my favorite mountain on this planet. 🙂
Eventually, we headed back home into Darrington with its quiet streets.
Across the street at the school, the Hosta plants had just recently burst forth. Yep, I was here in July, but it’s cold up in these hills so the Hosta pops up a bit later than it does for us down in the lowlands.
Then I glanced up at Whitehorse Mountain again. Wow! Reader SteveW has been up there. On the very top! Oh my nerves!
Love that wisp of snow/ice being blown off the mountain top.
Another ridge was nearby (below). How do people climb these things?
And below is another peak off in the opposite direction, to the northeast of the home where I stayed.
I’ve not been around mountains and high ridges like these much in my life. I was mesmerized. They’ve been here so much longer than we have. I wished they could talk. It seemed they would be visionary, have truths to tell us, if only we knew how to listen.
I’m on this camping trip in July, 2021. But back in April of this same year, I had driven up to visit my relatives with just my truck, not bringing the trailer. As I drove away from Darrington in the late afternoon in April of that earlier trip, I looked out my driver’s side window to the left and saw the mountain below. Oh that looks cold.
And then I noticed the range of peaks and ridges around this one mountain. No telling how high that mountain really was, how much further it went up into those clouds.
And this was in April, in spring! Winters here, if you’re ready for them, must be glorious.
Ah, but for this camping trip in July, it was actually warm, at least during the day. Thankfully, my family folk allowed me to plug into electricity by using a power cord that ran under their garage door and so I had toasty warm and quiet electric heat at night (no fan cycling on and off from the propane heat system). Even in July, nights are chilly up here. But tasty, hot pizza for dinner this Sunday evening helped a great deal. 🙂
Tomorrow I leave Darrington and head to my first “Boondockers Welcome” camping site. Stay tuned.
Your Whitehorse Mountain is about 2,103 metres. Even though it is a steeply sided peak and looks close to impossible to climb, it appears to be considered a relatively small mountain in the USA. It doesn’t make the list of the tallest 500 peaks in the USA. I compare that to the highest point in Great Britain — Ben Nevis in Scotland at 1,345 metres, a much smaller cousin to your Whitehorse. It certainly puts things in perspective! This is a terrifically good blog, thank you.
Thank you, Henry. I hadn’t done that comparison. It certainly does put things in perspective. I read online now that Ben Nevis is known world wide for extreme, steep ice/rock climbing on one side of it … extreme. So you folks have your mountains/bens too. Thanks for being here and for adding to the story. Very much appreciated.
I love that field, and Mt Baker. I don’t get to see much landscape like that where I live here in Nebraska. I miss it. Thanks. 🙂
You’re welcome. I’ll keep that in mind. 🙂
The mountains here are stunning. I researched them too online, like Henry did, and came up with the same info. These mountain peaks are relatively small in the USA, and yet they are massive and stunning. A winter here would be spectacular … as spring or summer is spectacular.
I love it when one reader learns something from another reader, or researches and learns, just like I do. Thanks Kinny.
Amazing scenery. And I really like that you love your relatives. The details in life are so important.
Indeed, the details in life are what life is about, yes. Thanks Ruth.
This was great. I’ve lived in Washington just about all my life and never been to Darrington. I need to get on the road!
Get on that road!!!! 🙂
Brrrrr! 🙂
No kidding! 🙂
I though Montana had all the mountains — not so! Keep traveling Ann and sharing your stories. Where will you go next? I know I’ll enjoy reading about it and seeing the photos wherever that is.
Thanks Tim. I will indeed keep traveling and sharing. 🙂 Thank you for being here and for commenting.
Love reading your blog with all the terrific photos and best stories!!!
Amen. The best stories of people I love. 🙂
You obviously love your “family folk” and I’d bet they love you too. We do too, and we love your stories and photos. As reader Lori says, brrrrr! 🙂
Ha! Yes. Brrrrr. Thank you M&M, I really like that you’re here.
One of the things I think I’d like about having a trailer is stopping in at friends and family on my way to somewhere. This all sounds delightful.
I haven’t done much of the “stopping in at friends and family” stuff, but after this trip that I loved so much, I’m going to do more. It’s a great way to visit, but without making people make room for you inside their house. As long as they have a relatively flat driveway, I’m there. 🙂
Yes indeed I was up there, on that very top pinnacle of Whitehorse Mountain. It was a LOT of work getting up there. And it was COLD even though I was up there in mid summer. But all things considered, it was beautiful up there, and a great climb. Thanks Ann. 🙂
Steve, I bet I’m not the only one who can’t even imagine being up on top of that peak, much less doing the work to get up there. Thanks for sharing that with us/me … I hope it was an amazing experience. Glad you lived to tell the tale. 🙂 Ice ax in hand!
I agree with you, Mt. Baker my favorite mountain, too. The view from the south in your beautiful picture is quite a different perspective than than the view from the west that I am used to. When we lived in Anacortes, (1975-76) we used to sit on the deck and watch the steam pouring from the mountain and speculate about what would happen if the mountain erupted. Now I live by bigger volcano (Mt Rainier, 14k ft high) and listen to the lahar warning sirens being tested on the first Monday of each month. 😯
Did you know that Mt Baker holds the world record for snowfall in a single season? 95 feet in 1998-99. That’s a lot of snow!
Did you ever drive the bookmobile on the Darrington run?
I’m used to seeing Mt. Baker from the west too, though from just a tad south of where you were in Anacortes. Many’s the time I visited my Aunt Hallie and my Uncle George at their home right on the beach on the northern end of Camano Island. Hallie and I would sit outside or walk on the beach and enjoy the perfect view of Mt. Baker. So it was real close to the same angle you had, Fritzi. I love this new angle too. But I really love the face that is often on Mt. Baker when looked at from the west or southwest. Aunt Hallie called the mountain “old Mr. Baker”. It was her favorite mountain too.
I was in Puyallup a year or so ago, maybe visiting you. As I was leaving town and driving quietly up Pioneer Street, that lahar warning siren went off. Yikes, it was loud!!! I practically drove off the road. But if/when Rainier does blow again, lots of people will be glad that siren is there.
No, I did not know about the world record snowfall that Mt. Baker holds. 95 feet! Hallie moved out of her home and went to live with her son and daughter-in-law in Ravensdale. George was already gone by then. Want to guess what year it was in late summer when Hallie left her home and her view of Mt. Baker? Yep, 1998. Maybe old Mr. Baker was shedding a tear that winter.
I don’t remember driving the Darrington run, but I don’t remember every run that I drove. I did drive the run up I-5, over to Fidalgo, then down Whidbey, and across the Clinton ferry … once every two weeks. For other readers here … I drove a bookmobile for three months, one summer, many years ago. There were 3 bookmobiles, so I didn’t drive every route, just the routes assigned to my one bookmobile. I was the driver … there was always a Librarian on my bookmobile. That was my favorite job of all.
Great memories, eh? 🙂
Ah, yes, the bookmobile. People brought us Baked treats at every stop – – of course we had to eat them :-). Everybody loved the bookmobile. It was only one thing that made me crazy. It was the lady who drove up in her Lincoln and rudely rushed us around because she was in a terrible hurry. Why, you may wonder? It was because she had to get to town, she said. I was hard put not to say so “why don’t you use the library while you’re in town then. We really do have to move on to our next stop!” And she didn’t bring any Treats either.
Wow, how rude, no kidding. And no treats! That’s worst of all. 🙂
Yep, for most folks who need and use a bookmobile service, and for most people who work on them, it’s a super system loved by the users and the library employees too. Thanks Jan.