Noisy-Diobsud

Said the way it sounds! (don't ask me for a pronunciation, you figure it out). This weekend I planned on taking the ferry through the San Juans, spotting some orcas, landing on the Olympic Penninsula, cycling to the Sequim Lavender Festival, camping out, then trekking back. But Andrew and Stephanie had different ideas. First of all, the promised me (and indeed gave!) a 32" flat screen tv and their futon if I visited them in Lynden. Second, they weren't up to wading the Puget Sound waters. So on Friday we visited with Sara & Bryan who were also in Lynden and stayed at the Rennie household. Then Saturday we made an impromptu decision to hike in the Noisy Diobsud Wilderness, just east of Mount Baker and Baker Lake. There has been exceptional snow sticking around, so we stopped at the friendly ranger station in Sedro-Wooley before heading up. They informed us that the snow line was at a lovely 4500 feet, quite low for any serious hiking. So we hit upon a short hike to the Watson Lakes from forest service road 1107. We had a few snow patches to cross on our way to the lakes and got a little lost on the final decent to the lakes. It was worth the travel though! Gorgeous views. It was a little heavily traveled, and understandably so considering the low snowline left this day hike one of the few accessible hikes this season so far. We had great views of Mount Baker across the valley and Baker Lake and great views of the peaks, cliffs, and waterfalls around the Watson Lakes. Next time we will have to add a short hike up to Anderson Butte (elev. 5,720 ft) for some views, but Stephanie was (and still is) in admist of a great sickness, so despite my upbeat spirits to be in nature, it was time to head back to the car after a quick review of our surroundings once we reached our destination. I will be posting pictures some day in the future . . . when I have a my upload cord that is currently in Prosser.