Desolation

I took a trip up Desolation Peak as part of a group adventure with the North Cascades Learning Center. Desolation gained some fame from one its fire look outs - Jack Kerouac spent one summer watching for fires from the look out and wrote Desolation Angels from that period.

 

One of leaders was a former lookout Gerry Cook. It was great fun to be in the lookout with him and current lookout, Daniel.  

 

 

Some clouds were about while loafing on the summit, but we had a fine view of the other Skagit River delta where the river flows into Ross Lake near the U.S - Canadian border.

 

 

In the other direction Ross Lake looked fjord-like in its deep mountain valley.

 

Hozameen, a crazy steep peak to the north wore a hat all day long.

Daniel has a tradition of taking pictures of his guests.

The next day those clouds and their moisture became less stable and we picked up Daniel's message on the radio about lightning to the east.

Most of my field time and camping is not social and I do much of my field work alone. I very much enjoyed my temporary tribe and our adventures.