Anderson Point on Baker Lake, WA

This week I had to drive down to Bellingham in Washington to visit with our US bank and so took the opportunity afterwards of taking Mojo for a walk somewhere we hadn’t been before.

Since his illness Mojo is not up to really long hikes anymore so I had to choose carefully a route that would give us enough walking and some good views without pushing the little fella too much.

Baker Lake is situated in the Mt Baker Recreation Area, just East of the North Cascades National Park.  Being outside of the park it is also dog-friendly which was a key consideration.

From Bellingham it’s a short drive south along I5 before heading East along State Route 20 and then North along a good quality paved Forest Commission road into the back country.

The photos on this post are not as good quality as normal as they were all taken on my iPhone rather than the actual camera.

From the parking lot the walk commences through mature forest. The trail was easy walking, a little up and down but not too much and no difficult steps. It was a gorgeous sunny day and the sunlight streamed through the trees.

I had found the route on the Washington Trails Association website and we had to keep an eye out for bears as several previous walkers had posted recently on the WTA website that they had encountered bears on this route.  I’m pleased to say we didn’t on this day !

After about 30 minutes walking we came to Anderson Creek, a lovely clear fast flowing creek which Mojo happily paddled and drank from.

Another view of Anderson Creek as it empties into Baker Lake

From here we also gained our first view of Mt Baker.

Video capturing the roaring sound of Anderson Creek.

We then crossed a log bridge and continued on the trail for a further 10 minutes or so.

Soon we arrive at Anderson Point, a peninsula on the East bank of Baker Lake.

From here there are great views North up Baker Lake towards Mt Shuksan (2783m/9131ft).

And the views across the lake to Mt Baker (3286m/10781ft) are pretty impressive too.  I will definitely have to return here on another sunny day with the camera to do these views justice.

There’s virtually no development after you leave the South end of the lake so it’s very peaceful and quiet. Infact, we didn’t see a single other person the whole 3 hours or so we were walking to, from or at the lake.

Panorama view looking North and West up Baker Lake.

If you don’t want to rough-it on the pebbled beach areas there are carved out logs for seating and BBQ pits so it’s the perfect spot to enjoy a picnic.

Mojo takes a small break in the sun.

Before heading back out for another swim.  The lake was beautifully clear, clean and unspoiled.

As perfect as the location was eventually we had to start heading back to the car.  The 40 minute race around on the trail enough to dry this damp doggy off.

It was a really lovely place for a walk and one we’ll certainly be back to in the future.

Okanagan and along the Sea-to-Sky Highway

With our recent visitors we ventured to the Okanagan for which is fast becoming our annual tradition of renting a house with Andrea & Stephen and doing some wineries while hopefully enjoying some warmer drier weather than we experience on the coast.  We managed most of that, thankfully we had fleece’s and waterproofs !

The house we rented this time was on Skaha Lake on the south end of Penticton, right in the heart of wine country.

David with Mojo on the house’s jetty.

The living room was double height and had fantastic views up the lake.

The day we arrived (and seemingly each afternoon during our stay) the winds would pick up and create surprisingly big waves on the lake which came crashing against the deck, splashing water over the furniture and anyone who was outside at the time.  Mojo much as he wanted to get in the lake wasn’t impressed with the waves.

The following morning the lake was beautifully calm even though it has just started raining (and pretty much continued throughout our stay !)

Stephen on the jetty and Mojo keeping a close eye on the people paddling in the dragon boat, who are also keeping a close eye on Mojo

Between the ducks and the big fish in the lake there was plenty to keep Mojo occupied watching.

Despite the weather we had lots of fun visiting the wineries and hanging out with Stephen and Andrea.  Between us all we did a good job stocking up the wine rack.

After returning from the Okanagan we took our visitors up to Whistler for the day, stopping enroute for views at Porteau Cove

David, his Dad and Mojo at Porteau Cove

We make the obligatory stop at Brandywine Falls

Unfortunately our timing was such that the chairlifts had closed for the winter season and were about (but not yet) to open for the summer, we were in one of the few short days they are non-operational.  So, we didn’t get to go up the mountains on this occasion, we’ll have to save that for next time. 

Views here on the way back along the Sea-to-Sky Highway

Finally, the mini-Inukshuk David and his Dad built.

Cape Breton Highlands National Park

Our full day in Cape Breton was spent driving around the coastline that the region is famous for.

We set off from our rental house in Englishtown to take the Englishtown ‘ferry’ that crosses St Anns Bay. The term ferry is correct is so much as it does float on water….just…..but it is a cable driven ferry and you almost feel you can touch both sides of the crossing while on it.

Named Torquil Maclean after an individual who ran the first ferry across the bay and ran  it for 50 years in the late 1800’s. 

The crossing is a mighty 210m so get out of the car or blink and you might miss getting off the ferry at the other side.

The route we are taking today is the Cabot Trail, in an anti-clockwise direction. This road is named after John Cabot, an explorer who landed in Atlantic Canada in 1497.

Not long after we begin out drive we get an early wake-up call as we almost run into a moose that was walking in the middle of the road.  As we braked he shifted to the opposite lane and continued walking some distance ahead of us before crossing the road again and into the bush.

Views here of the coastline as we approach the small town of Ingonish.

On our drive we enter and exit and re-enter Cape Breton Highlands National Park.

We start a short walk up to a nearby viewpoint.  Mum, Dad and I on the walk.

There are good views from the look out at the top along the coastline and surrounding countryside.

We retrace our steps back to the car and continue along the Cabot Trail, views here from some of the numerous viewpoints along the road.

Soon we reach the small village of Neils Harbour. 

A converted lighthouse serves as a concession stand.  There’s good coffee here but it’s a long wait !

Another view of Neils Harbour

From Neils Harbour we tour off the Cabot Trail for a short way taking the smaller coastline road where the Cabot Trail has veered inland.

We get great coastline views from this route.

We rejoin the Cabot Trail which now crosses the Cape Breton Highland peninsula away from the East coast heading for the West coast of the island. About halfway across was good timing for lunch and we found a perfect quiet spot adjacent to the shallow Aspy River in a location called Big Intervale.

Soon after we set off from lunch we find another pullout at the side of the road this time providing views of a faultline that runs through the park, called the Aspy Fault.  The ridge running from left-to right about 1/4 way up this photo marks the faultline.

Mum snapping away

Some distance later we reach the North-West coast of Cape Breton.

This side of the park had more of a mix of woodland and moorland and exposed rocky outcrops

The Cabot Trail hugs the hillside just above the sea.

Our final sightseeing stop was at La Bloc beach.

We soon reach the french-speaking town of Cheticamp where we pass this large church and were delighted to find they had a Tim Hortons !  It was iced-caps all around.

We continued the short further distance along the West side of the island before heading back across inland towards our rental house.

As we reached the house the sun was setting again as we got more great views from the living room.

The next day we headed to the airport in Sydney to return our rental car and fly back to BC.  It was a really excellent visit to the East Coast and we enjoyed touring it with Mum & Dad.  There are definitely parts of Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island we will want to return to again one day.