Jack and Amy 's Washington State Trip
Day 2 - Monday, January 27th, 2020
South Chuckanut Mountain, Samish Overlook Sunrise
Lily Lake, Lizard Lake, North Butte, and Oyser Dome
Skagit County, WA
Sunrise from the Samish Overlook on Chuckanut Mountain
Since this is a business trip for Amy I would be on my own for most of the week. Our first two trips to Washington State were during the summer. With the road into the Cascades being closed, and much shorter days, I decided to plan my hikes relatively close to Anacortes, WA our home for the week.
Since my body was still on east coast time and I am an early riser to begin with, I was up well before the sun. I started my hike up Chuckanut Mountain in the dark via Headlamp through a cold light rain with hopes of making it to the Samish Overlook for sunrise.
If you want to be on top of the mountain for sunrise,
you need to start hiking in the dark!
From the Trailhead along Hwy 11, the hike up to the Samish Overlook is a little over two miles and about 1,300 feet of elevation. Using my Lumos App, I knew exactly where the sun would be and arrived at the right place at the right time! Unfortunately the clouds had other ideas and initially blocked all hopes of a sunrise.
I thought about moving on, but since I had the mountain to myself I decided to take a nice break from the 1,300 foot climb and just enjoy the moment!
My patience paid off! While I never did actually see the sun rise, there was a brief moment in time when this happened! This is one of those magical moments that I will hopefully never forget!
Spectacular Sunrise from the Samish Overlook
This spectacular display of light and color lasted for less than 30 seconds and I was delighted to be the only human to witness this heavenly display of nature!
I was so grateful I waited around, but I was a cold and wet and ready to get moving again! From the Samish Overlook I continued my hike along the Pacific Northwest Trail
Here is the GPS track of my hike. I parked alongside the road near Windy Point, hiked up to the Samish Overlook for Sunrise, and then continued the loop in a counter-clockwise direction.
I could have driven here, but to me, the hike up the mountain was much more enjoyable!
Cool Trees
Beautiful Forest in the fog
No distant views, but the forest was amazing!
Lizard Lake
I loved this huge tree stump with a small waterfall flowing underneath!
Huge Moss Covered Boulders
The area had a good bit of snow about a week earlier.
Still some old patches of snow lingering around the shady side of the mountain
View from North Butte
North Butte Panorama
View from North Butte
Busy Beavers at Lily Lake
Oyster Dome Panorama
view from Oyster Dome
view from Oyster Dome
view from Oyster Dome
View from near the trailhead along Hwy 11
Windy Point
Enjoying and After Hike Flight at Terramar Brewing
I really liked this brewery and cute little town of Edison, WA
Roadside view of Mount Baker
My complete set of photos from Day 2 is posted here:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/8146392@N05/albums/72157713511975088
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