WAWeekend: From ‘Blogosphere’ to Mt. Baker

Would you believe it took a Canadian, who lives in South Korea to get me to Mt. Baker, in northern Washington State for the first time in my life?

Washington, the place I’ve lived my entire life, I might add.

And, I have the blogosphere to thank for planting the seed some two years ago that made this trip happen.

Regular readers know that each week TravelnWrite is a part of Travel Photo Thursday hosted by Budget Travelers Sandbox, a blog created by Nancie McKinnon, an educator from Halifax who teaches at a South Korean university. 

Over the year’s Nancie and I have gotten to know each other in the usual blogosphere way; reading posts, making comments,responding to comments and writing occasional emails.

Out of the blogosphere. . .

Nancie, two weeks ago, was en route  to Halifax and made  a stop in Vancouver, B.C. to visit a friend. She suggested we meet somewhere during that stopover. Turns out her friend, Sue, has a vacation retreat at The Glen at Maple Falls, Washington. Nancie further suggested we meet there.

“Sure!” I replied, thinking, “Where in the world is Maple Falls?” Grabbing the map, I found it right at the foot of Mt. Baker.

The day we met was one of those dreary, gray days for which this Evergreen State is known. Intermittent rain, and gray clouds provided the less-than-scenic backdrop as I headed north. 



My journey took me over the new temporary bridge span on Interstate 5 (part of the permanent bridge fell into the river after an over-sized truck hit the railing last month).

Then east on Highway 20 to Highway 9 (pictured above).

Past beautiful meadows, pastureland, and forested hillsides. Well, they would have been really beautiful had the fog and clouds not dulled their emerald sparkle. I traveled through little hamlets named Acme, Clipper and Van Zandt – each calling out for a longer look on a future trip.

Highway 9 led to the Mt. Baker Highway and a couple miles  more I found myself at The Glen, a gated recreational development near the Nooksack River.

It took about 10 seconds, the length of time it took me to get out of the car, for these two blogosphere friends to fall into easy conversation; it was as if we’d known each other for years.

In a way, we have known each other for years – thanks to our blogs which have allowed us to follow the other’s life events and travels. (I have to tell you that for two people who are usually behind the camera, posing for that photo above had us howling with laughter at our discomfort as Sue patiently took photos of us.)

The only disappointing part of the day was that the cloud cover never allowed me even a peek at Mt. Baker, that majestic 10,781 ft.(3,286 m) peak, the third-highest mountain in Washington State and the fifth-highest in the Cascade Range.

But thanks to the courtesy of the USGS for allowing use of that first photo and Nancie, who sent one she took of the mountain a few days after my visit, I can show you one place in the state that you really should visit – especially on a sunny day!

If You Go:
The Mt. Baker area is about a two – three hour drive north of Seattle (depending on your destination). It took two hours to drive from Kirkland to The Glen, just under 100 miles in distance.

It is about an hour from Surrey, British Columbia, which is just outside Vancouver.

Mt. Baker National Forest information:
http://www.fs.usda.gov/mbs
The Glen at Maple Falls information:
http://theglenatmaplefalls.com/