RHH's photos with the keyword: blue lake

The Blue Lake trail is one of our favorite autumn hikes. We love the changing color of the Alpine Larches and hiking near the Liberty Bell group of peaks is an added bonus. The peak shown is the western-most of the group, the Liberty Bell and we are looking at the peak from the south, a view gotten only by hiking. The inset shows the whole group of peaks from the north across the highway and from the Washington Pass overlook. In that photo, Liberty Bell is the peak on the far right.

We were on the trail to Blue Lake in the North Cascades when this was taken. The peaks on the left are the Liberty Bell group and the trail would take us into the trees on the left of the photo and then back across, still through the trees, to the right of the picture. The color in the background is from the Alpine Larches which were changing when we hiked the trail.

In mid-September my wife and a friend and I hiked to Blue Lake in the North Cascades to see the larches changing color. The photo was taken from the outlet of the lake and shows some of the larches just starting to change color.

Taken late in the afternoon on a hike to Blue Lake last November with my wife, this shows some of the peaks across the valley, which I believe to be Whistler Mountain (the highest peak near the center of the photo) and Cutthroat Peak, the double peak on the far right.

Taken on a recent hike to Blue Lake. When we arrived at the lake the gentleman and his dog were sitting on the rock across the water and later we ate our lunch on the rock where he was sitting. The yellow trees are Alpine Larches.

Taken from the trail above Blue Lake when we were hiking there several weeks ago, this view includes the Liberty Bell group of peaks in the background, though they are much more impressive than they appear here. The peaks from left to right are Liberty Bell, Concord Spire, Lexington Spire, and North and south Early Winters Spires. The ridge on the right may be part of Kangaroo Ridge, but I am not certain of that. The yellow trees are Alpine Larches and the hike to Blue Lake is a great place to see them in autumn when they change color.

There haven't been a lot of mushrooms or fungi this year due to the hot dry summer. This is one we found along the Blue Lake trail, the Conifer Coral Fungus, Hericium abietis, edible and supposed to be very tasty.

Monday, September 21, we hiked with a friend to Blue Lake. The lake is off the North Cascades Highway and near Washington Pass. The larches were beginning to change and it was a beautiful, sunny day. The photo was taken soon after our arrival at the lake. Later we ate our lunch on the rock where the people are sitting and then explored the slopes on the other side of the lake. The larches are the Alpine Larch, Larix lyallii, which only grows above 5500 feet.

This was our destination last Friday, November 7th. We hiked the Blue Lake trail to its end at the laker, which truly was blue when we were there. The picture was taken at 1:41 pm but already the light was fading and the shadows were turning blue. Blue Lake lies at the back of the Liberty Bell Group of peaks, the peaks shown in the previous photo. We had our lunch there, a freeze-dried meal, ramen noodles and coffee before hiking back out. The hot food and coffee were very welcome since it was getting colder with the fading light and our feet were a bit wet and cold from the snow (need to waterproof the boots once again).