The Mt. Baker wilderness area is one of our favorite areas to photograph. Mt. Baker stands at 10,781 ft (3,286 m) and has the second-most thermally active crater in the Cascade Range after Mount St. Helens. It's roughly 100 miles northeast of Seattle, WA. Baker is the youngest volcano in the Mount Baker volcanic field. While volcanism has persisted here for some 1.5 million years, the current volcanic cone is likely no more than 140,000 years old, and possibly no older than 80–90,000 years which is actually very young in geologic terms! The older volcanic edifices have mostly eroded away due to glaciation. It is also one of the snowiest places in the world; in 1999, nearby Mount Baker Ski Area, set the world record for recorded snowfall in a single season—1,140 in....that's 95 feet! Winter storms come barreling in off the Pacific Ocean and are funneled eastward around the Olympic Mountains, through the straits of Juan de Fuca and then pummel the mountain with snow. This is the main reason that this beautiful and symmetrical mountain is so heavily Glaciated. At this point in the summer there are a profusion of wildflowers along the trails. In fact, they are so thick that they spill onto the trails in certain areas forcing you to wade through the sea of beautiful blooms. Here are a few images taken recently. The first 2 are part of our series we call "Wildflowers with a View". The third image is a shot of Coleman Glacier. This shot requires a relatively difficult hike to get to the location, but the rewards are immense. The photo really does not do it justice, but you can at least get an approximate idea of what it is like to visit this special place!
