I Took a Right and Ended Up in the Mountains…

Posted on September 22, 2026 by Karen Molenaar Terrell

I left the house thinking I was going to end up at Lake Padden or Squires Lake or maybe the Bellingham boardwalk. But I found myself taking a right onto Sunset Drive and the next thing you know I was driving to Mount Baker.

I guess my inner voice knew that the boardwalk and Lake Padden just weren’t going to cut it today. Today I really needed the mountains.

And oh, my friends! It was glorious up there! The colors are starting to change to reds and golds, and the temperature was just perfect.

I stopped at Picture Lake, of course, for the traditional photo of Mount Shuksin’s reflection. This time I did something I’ve never done before, though. Normally, I just walk out far enough on the Picture Lake loop trail to snap a couple of quick pictures, but this time I decided to follow the little loop around the lake and see what there was to see. I’m glad I did that. It’s really pretty on the other side of the lake, and the autumn colors were amazing.

When I finished the loop, I walked down to the other little lake in front of Picture Lake and snapped a couple of quick photos there, too. While I was doing that, a van appeared and a young woman stopped to snap pictures from her window. She was just so full of joy – so happy to be there – that her joy spilled over onto me, and I soaked it up. I asked her if I could take a picture of her taking a picture of the lake. She laughed and said sure. I learned her name is Aliece, and she learned mine was Karen, and we wished each other good days.

I drove on up to the Artist Point parking lot then. I wasn’t sure what I was going to do once I got up there, but I found myself heading up the trail to Artist Point.

There were so many wonderful people on the trail today! Annie and Wendy were visiting from Vancouver (I thanked them for coming down from Canada to visit us); there were Madan and Kusum from Nepal; and folks from the Shuksan Conservancy caring for the alpine meadows – among them Jim, Jana, and Clare.

As I was coming down from the peak of Artist Point I ran into Gail and Todd. I told them that I was up there on impulse – that I’d planned to take a walk on the Bellingham boardwalk, but I’d taken a right instead and ended up here. I told them it was exactly what I needed. I needed the mountains today, and I needed mountain people, too. I learned, then, that Todd and Gail are actually from Bellingham and walk on the boardwalk five or six times a week! How cosmic! “I was feeling despondent today,” I said, “and I could have stayed home and sat in that, but I ended up in the mountains instead.” Todd and Gail nodded their heads in understanding. I think we all needed the mountains today.

As I was coming down back to the parking lot, guess who I ran into? Aliece!! Oh, she’s so fun! I learned that she is an actual professional photographer – she showed me photos of some of the weddings she’s taken, and her photos were AMAZING!! I told her how much I appreciated her joy, and she said if you don’t feel joy up here, there’s not much anyone can do for you. I started cracking up. I mean. She was totally right. She said she’d come up here from Vegas to visit her father, and she was pretty sure that Washington State is one of the best places in the whole world. (I’m paraphrasing here, but that’s the essence of her thoughts. And I agree with them.) Before we parted – Aliece to continue up to the top of Artist Point, and me to go back to my car – we gave each other a good hug.

I’m so grateful for my day wandering around in alpine meadows. I’m so grateful for all the wonderful people I met. I’m so glad I took a right onto Sunset Drive this morning.

(Photos by Karen Molenaar Terrell.)

Cosmic Magic in Alpine Fields

Posted on October 10, 2024 by Karen Molenaar Terrell

Cosmic!

October 8, 2024
Last week my son, Xander, and I planned a trip up to Mount Baker today. But this morning when I woke up and checked the weather it looked like it was pretty miserable up there. The son and I decided to call the trip off. A couple hours later, though, when I checked the weather again, it looked like there might actually be some sunshine at Baker. So I texted my son and told him about the change in the weather forecast, and asked him if he’d like to give it a try. Then I opened my thoughts up to the Cosmos and put the day in Her hands. I decided I’d be happy with however the day evolved for me.

Pretty soon the son texted back and said he still wanted to go up there. Within the hour I’d picked him up and we were on the road.

And it was glorious up there! We stopped at Picture Lake to take some quick pictures of Mount Shuksan (and we got there at the just right time – not long after we left the clouds moved in and blanketed Shuksan). We did a quick little hike on the nature trail at Heather Meadows and then went on up to the Artist Point parking lot and hiked up to the top of Artist Point.

On the way up we came upon a bride and groom, Sarah and Etienne, in full wedding regalia, and they cheerfully agreed to let me snap a quick photo. Later I asked a couple from Canada if they’d like me to take a picture of them together with their camera and they thanked me and said yes. On the way down we ran into them again, and this time I asked Kathy if I could take a picture of her with her sweet pup, Coriander.

It was such a lovely day – a gift from the Cosmos. I really needed this.

It Was a Good Choice

Posted on September 30, 2018 by Karen Molenaar Terrell

We’d been waiting for a sunny weekend to go for our Table Mountain hike – and it just didn’t happen – so we finally gave up the whole idea of sunny skies and just went up to Mount Baker, anyway. It was a good choice. 🙂

shuksan autumn reflection (3) this one really

Sweet Solitude!

Posted on August 17, 2014 by Karen Molenaar Terrell

Photo taken on top of Table Mountain in the North Cascades, by Karen Molenaar Terrell

I took myself on a hike today – just me and… well… myself. I was so excited to go on a date with me. We-me hadn’t gone on a hike alone for a really long time. I was even looking forward to the one and a half hour drive up to the trailhead – excited about being able to put in a CD of my choice, without having to worry if my choice of music was going to annoy any poor hapless individual stuck in the car with me; excited about being able to roll the windows all the way down if I wanted without having to worry about somebody else’s hair getting mussed, or face getting lashed and buffeted by the wind; excited about being able to stop and take pictures if I wanted, get some tea maybe, take my time – without having to worry about anyone else’s needs or schedule; and really, really excited about stretching my legs in the mountains again. I’ve been having a “mountain jones” the last week.

And I have to tell you – it was MARVELOUS! I had a great date with myself. I put in a Jason Mraz CD and sang along with it all the way to the Heather Meadows parking lot. And once I hit the trail I started singing the theme song from “The Sound of Music” – because when I’m on a date with myself there can never be enough schmaltz. We (me and myself) felt really good up there today – strong and able. When we got to the top of Table Mountain we built a little cairn out of rocks and then sat down for a lunch of crackers and cheese. Then, because we were feeling strong and able, we decided to venture another half a mile or so along the ridge to a nice overlook of the valley below. We didn’t hurry. We took our time, snapped photos when we wanted, stopped and just took in the views when it pleased us.

We saw a marmot scrambling around in the rocks up there, and met some cheerful friendly fellow hikers. On the way down we stopped and moved to the side as a young woman made her way up the trail. The trail is steep, and in places there’s a sheer drop on the other side of it, and the woman looked to be clinging to the rocks when she could.- I got the impression she was a little nervous about the whole adventure. I told her she was almost to the top and it was GORGEOUS up there, and her friend, who was standing next to me, waiting for her, said, “Yes! That’s right! You’re almost there!” and looked at me with gratitude in his eyes. “Thank you,” he said to me, . “Have a wonderful afternoon!”

And I did. 🙂