Saturday, October 12, 2002:
Buddy, Harley, and I left home early (10:30 AM) and headed to Church mountain. Dan and I had already climbed Church in early June 2001. On the earlier trip, the view of Baker had been obscured by clouds. I decided to climb the Church a second time to get another look. I was not dissapointed. The Church mountain trail is about 9 miles round trip with a 3800 foot elevation gain and loss.
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PICT0001:
1PM: At the Church mountain trailhead. 2300 FASL (feet above sea level).
The trail switchbacks through old growth forest passing many impressive cedar
trees.
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PICT0002:
1.5 hours later and 2500 vertical feet higher, we came out of the trees and got
our first view.
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PICT0003:
Church mountain is that peak up there on the left.
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PICT0005:
When Dan and I climbed this in June 2001, this was all covered in 3-4 feet of
snow. Dan and I stupidly decided to leave the "trail" (denoted by
footsteps) and head straight up this slope. It was a bad move. The
hill was *very* steep (55+ degrees), and there were some exposed / rocky patches
that were almost unclimbable. After climbing this slope for a half hour, I
think it took us 3 times as long to find a way down.
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PICT0006:
Another shot of idiots' hill.
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PICT0007:
And another.
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PICT0008:
1000 vertical feet below the summit, there's a relatively flat meadow the trail
wanders through. This is where Dan and I lost the trail on the earlier
trip. Following the trail was much easier. The fall colors in this
picture are nice. I love hiking in October.
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PICT0009:
Another look back at idiots' hill.
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PICT0011:
Snow! Harley was so happy. He hadn't had a chance to play in snow
for 3.5 months!
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PICT0012:
Mt. Larrabee; idiots' hill
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PICT0027:
On top of the Church! 6100 FASL. Looking East. Mount Larrabee
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PICT0028:
Bearpaw Mountain. American Border Peak.
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PICT0030:
Bearpaw Mountain. Canada in background.
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PICT0031:
Looking North into the great Canadian unknown (I have no topo maps for Canada
and can not guess at the names of these mountains).
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PICT0032:
More canadian mountains.
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PICT0033:
Church Mountain.
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PICT0037:
Looking SouthWest from Church. Lincoln Peak; Twin sisters.
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PICT0049:
Baker.
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PICT0050:
Baker, Colfax Peak; Lincoln Peak.
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PICT0051:
Baker, Grant Peak, Colfax Peak.
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PICT0052:
Mount Shuksan; Nooksack Tower; Summit Pyramid; The Hourglass
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PICT0053:
Shuksan again.
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PICT0054:
Mt. Larrabee; American Border Peak again.
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PICT0055:
Closeup of Bearpaw mountain.
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PICT0056:
Closeup of some canadian mountains.
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PICT0057:
More canadian mountains.
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PICT0058:
Looking south into the Cascades (Shuksan to Left, Baker to Right).
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PICT0059:
Group photo.
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PICT0060:
Harley; Buddy; Church..
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PICT0061:
Harley found a doghouse on top of the mountain!
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PICT0062:
Half moon and Baker.
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PICT0067:
Buddy and Baker.
This was a great hike. One of my all time favorites.
I made a personal speed record on this hike. We hiked up the first 2000 vertical feet in just 61 minutes. We slowed down a little bit when the trail was covered with snow, but we still made the 3800 elevation gain in 2 hours 10 minutes. That's an average of 29 feet / minute. Not bad.