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.)