Blood Mountain

Georgia Blue Ridge Mountains from atop Blood Mountain

 6 miles loop, 1600 feet elevation gain
Difficulty: Moderate; Freeman Trail is rocky and brushy
Access: Paved road to trailhead, no pass required

The rocky summit of Blood Mountain is the highest point on the Appalachian Trail in Georgia and provides beautiful views of the southern Blue Ridge just two hours driving from Atlanta. This loop hike visits the summit via a well-traveled stretch of the AT but make a loop for the return, following the little-used Freeman Trail along the southern slopes of Blood Mountain. It's also possible (and perhaps recommended) to simply hike round trip to the summit of Blood Mountain via the AT for a 4-mile round trip hike that avoids the rockier and more difficult terrain on the Freeman Trail. The numerous rhododendrons along the trail suggest that this would be a gorgeous late spring or early summer hike when the flowers bloom. This was a beautiful and enjoyable hike, especially when done as a round trip to the summit of Blood Mountain on the AT; I recommend it to anyone who lives in or is visiting the Atlanta area.

I hiked Blood Mountain on a one-day whirlwind tour of the north Georgia; after arriving at Atlanta Hartsfield early in the morning on a red-eye, I hopped in a car and drove north and hiked Blood Mountain in the morning, later doing other short hikes at Brasstown Bald and Anna Ruby Falls. Hikers looking at a map may wonder why this hike starts from the Byron Reece Trail north of Neels Gap rather than following the AT from Neels Gap; the answer is that the parking area at Neels Gap is dedicated for customers of Mountain Crossings at Walasi-Yi, an outdoors equipment store housed in a historic stone building. As Blood Mountain is an extremely popular hike, the larger parking area at the Byron Reece Trailhead is better suited for accommodating hikers.

From Atlanta, I took Highway 400/US 19 north from the city past Roswell and Alpharetta until the freeway ended; I continued following US 19 north, following signs to stay on the route as it went through various turns, passing through Dahlonega and entering the Blue Ridge, crossing the mountains at Neels Gap. I took the turnoff on the left for the Byron Reece Trailhead shortly after crossing the gap and parked at the trailhead.

The first 2/3 mile of the hike follows the Byron Reece Trail from the trailhead up to the Appalachian Trail at Flatrock Gap. Byron Reece, as a memorial at the trailhead notes, was a twentieth-century poet who grew up in Blairsville, just north of Blood Mountain, and became distinguished for his writings about the north Georgia Blue Ridge before his early death. The trail itself entered the Blood Mountain Wilderness soon after leaving the parking area.

Entering Blood Mountain Wilderness

The initial stretch of trail followed a creek flowing down from Flatrock Gap. Large patches of mountain laurel and rhododendron lined the trail; I imagine this stretch of trail would be gorgeous when those flowers bloom in May and June.

Rhododendron along the trail

The Byron Reece Trail maintained a steady ascent until reaching Flatrock Gap, where I came to a junction with the AT and the Freeman Trail. I took the right hand turn, which placed me on the Appalachian Trail going south. There are just under 80 miles of the Appalachian Trail in Georgia; from Flatrock Gap, it is a mere 30 miles to Springer Mountain, the southern terminus of the AT. I followed the white blazes uphill from the gap, ascending towards the summit of Blood Mountain.

When I see the white blazes, I feel at home

Although summer was ending and a hint of fall already tinged the oaks and the poplars, a few scattered wildflowers still bloomed along the trail.

Trailside wildflowers

I've spent most of the past four years hiking in the conifer forests of the Northwest that are by turns stately, austere, and passionately verdant; I have to say that part of me has yearned for the gentle forest of eastern hardwoods. Here, the canopy is not so thick that sunlight is kept out; instead, the morning light was cast about the trees and the trail.

Appalachian Trail on Blood Mountain

The trail switchbacked often as it climbed the slopes of Blood Mountain and was at times quite rocky. Peek-a-boo views began emerging, improving as more openings in the tree cover occurred higher up on the mountain. Finally, a little over 2 miles from the trailhead, the AT came out onto a large, exposed rock outcrop. Standing at the uphill edge of the outcrop, I gazed across the tops of nearby trees to the rolling landscape of the Georgia Blue Ridge.

First views on Blood Mountain

These peaks and hollows were strangers to me: I couldn't name any of the mountains in the viewshed. All the same, this gentle but still rugged landscape reminded me of the Virginia Blue Ridge: it reminded me of home.

To the south, I gazed out into the Piedmont, spotting Yonah Mountain near Helen, one of the few Georgia mountains that I recognized. Layer upon layer of hills faded out into the Piedmont, reminding me of the rolling hills of Albemarle, Nelson, and Madison Counties that I once gazed out at from the mountains outside Charlottesville.

View into the Piedmont

Later in the day, I visited Brasstown Bald, where it is apparently possible to see the Atlanta skyline on a clear day. As Blood Mountain is barely shorter than Brasstown Bald- it, too, rises well over 4000 feet- and Blood Mountain, lying further south, is closer to Atlanta, I would imagine that Atlanta should be visible from this summit on a clear day as well.

Continuing past this initial viewpoint, I soon arrived at a second overlook on a broad rock outcrop, this one with a view wider than the first view. This time, I could gaze out along the crest of the Blue Ridge to the west, my eyes straining to spot Springer Mountain and the starting point of the 2,200-mile long Appalachian Trail. The highest peaks in the view formed the watershed divide between the Chattahoocee and Tennessee River watersheds.

Blue Ridge view from Blood Mountain

To the east, the Blue Ridge lived up to its name, with ridge after ridge fading into the blue-tinged haze and Yonah Mountain rising at the edge of the Piedmont.

Yonah Mountain and the Blue Ridge Mountains

Further down along the summit ridge from the overlooks, I came to the Blood Mountain Shelter, a well-built stone shelter for AT hikers, about two and a quarter miles from the trailhead. A large rock next to shelter provided good views to the west similar to those that I had seen earlier at the overlooks. Unlike the AT shelters in Virginia and Maryland, which typically have bunk spaces, this shelter consisted of two rooms with stone floors. I signed the shelter guest log, which, like other AT shelter logs, was filled with odd doodlings, winding stories, and passionate outbursts.

Blood Mountain Shelter

Next to the shelter was the only view to the northeast on this hike: from the top of a nearby boulder, I spotted Brasstown Bald, the highest point in Georgia, across a wide and beautiful valley. Behind Brasstown Bald were the Appalachian ridges of North Carolina.

Brasstown Bald

Hikers who prefer an easier hike or who are only interested in the summit views should turn back after the shelter; the views ended after leaving the shelter. From here, the AT dropped downhill, descending via switchbacks to meet the Duncan Trail about a third of a mile past the summit. I stayed to the right to remain on the AT and descended to a junction with the Slaughter Creek Trail about 3 miles from the trailhead. At this junction, the AT made a sharp switchback, while the Slaughter Creek Trail continued in the direction of descent after crossing Slaughter Creek itself; once again, I stayed on the AT here, bearing left at the junction. The AT then cut along the side of the mountain with fairly little elevation gain or loss over the next two-fifths of a mile to its junction with the Freeman Trail at Bird Gap. A nice, large campsite lay west of the AT at the gap, just across from the Freeman Trail junction.

Junction for the brushy Freeman Trail

At this junction, took the left fork and left the AT for the Freeman Trail. While the AT was well maintained and obviously saw high traffic, the Freeman Trail was very brushy and appeared much less frequented. Over the next two miles on the Freeman Trail, I spent much of my time pushing away vegetation and brushing off the hundreds of spider webs that had collected on my clothes and my body. The Freeman Trail had a less pleasant trail tread as well, traversing over rocky terrain. The rising temperature and humidity as noon approached didn't help either.

The Freeman Trail followed the southern slopes of Blood Mountain for a little under 2 miles, with occasional ups and downs but no extended climbs or descents. There were no views but the hardwood forest was pleasant to hike through. At about half a mile in, the trail crossed over a small stream where a few autumn leaves decorated the water. Hickory nuts and acorns littered the forest floor.

Autumn leaf on the Freeman Trail

Further along the Freeman Trail, I found a hollowed-out spiral tree trunk right next to the trail; there were no burn marks inside the trunk, so I wondered how it might have formed.

Hollowed-out spiral trunk

After making my way around the south ridge of Blood Mountain, I found substantial areas of blowdown on the Freeman Trail. While many of these trees appeared to have fallen a while ago, quite a few were clearly fresh, with the leaves on the fallen trees still green. I speculated whether these trees might have fallen when the remnants of Hurricane Irma swept through Georgia about a week and a half before my hike in the area.

Irma's work?

Soon after passing the area of fresh blowdown, the Freeman Trail made a slight downhill and returned to Flatrock Gap. From here, I followed the Byron Reece Trail the final 2/3 mile back to the trailhead.

Blood Mountain was an enjoyable hike along the Appalachian Trail with good views of the Georgia Blue Ridge. I was happy to be back in the Blue Ridge, albeit much farther south than the Blue Ridge with which I'm most familiar, so I found this to be a very satisfying experience, especially on a weekday morning when I did not have to share the trail with many other hikers. This circuit is highly recommended for hikers living in or visiting the area.

Brasstown Bald

The Blue Ridge Mountains stretch into the distance from Brasstown Bald

1.2 miles round trip, 440 feet elevation gain
Difficulty: Easy
Access: Paved road to trailhead, $5 entrance fee required (Federal Interagency Passes accepted)

The 4784-foot high summit of Brasstown Bald is the highest point in the state of Georgia and hosts an observation deck with views over four states. While it's possible to ride a bus shuttle to the summit, a slightly more rewarding though almost equivalently easy approach is to walk up a paved trail to the visitor center and observation deck atop the mountain from the large parking area on the mountain's shoulder.

I visited Brasstown Bald on a one-day whirlwind tour of the north Georgia; after arriving at Atlanta Hartsfield early in the morning on a red-eye, I hopped in a car and drove north, doing other short hikes at Blood Mountain and Anna Ruby Falls. The road up to Brasstown Bald had closed following Hurricane Irma, so I was lucky that it reopened shortly before my visit. For hikers driving up from Atlanta, the fastest approach is through Helen by taking I-85 north, then I-985 north until it turns into US 23 and the freeway ends; turning left onto Georgia 384 a while after passing Gainesville and following it until coming to Georgia 75; turning right onto Georgia 75, merging onto Georgia 17 and following it through faux-Bavarian Alpine Helen and across Unicoi Gap to the junction with Georgia 180. Turn left at Georgia 180 and follow it west uphill to a saddle on Brasstown Bald, where the Highway 180 spur leads steeply uphill to a parking lot just short of the summit.

The entrance fee for Brasstown Bald is $5 per person including the shuttle, or $3 per person for those who choose to walk up instead of taking the shuttle. As Brasstown Bald is operated by Chattahoochee National Forest and thus run by the US Forest Service, entrance to the site is included with any federal interagency lands pass, including the America the Beautiful Pass; however, my experience both here and at Anna Ruby Falls suggests that these passes very rarely show up in north Georgia, as USFS employees at both sites were initially hesitant to accept the pass before I explained the scope of lands covered by the federal interagency passes. If you have a federal interagency pass and it is refused at the site, you can direct USFS employees to the Chattahoochee National Forest webpage covering this site.

The paved trail from the parking lot to the summit started between the waiting pavilion for the shuttle to the summit and the gift shop. Although the path is short- less than 2/3 of a mile each way- it packs in over 400 feet of elevation gain, so it's a pretty steady, steep incline the entire way. The trail wasted no time getting into the ascent, immediately heading uphill through a tunnel of rhododendron and mountain laurel. I'd love to revisit the southern Appalachians in June to see the mountaintop rhododendron blooms; I'm sure Brasstown Bald would be even lovelier at that time of year than it was during my visit.

Rhododendron and mountain laurel line the paved trail

The trail quickly passed a junction with the Wagon Train Trail, which headed north into the Brasstown Wilderness, one of the Chattahoochee National Forest wilderness areas in the Blue Ridge Mountains. Interpretive plaques along the trail explained aspects of both the mountain's history and ecology. At two-fifths of a mile, the trail crossed the shuttle road to the summit and a couple hundred meters later, I arrive at the visitor center itself.

The visitor center and fire lookout atop Brasstown Bald

The visitor center had a number of exhibits on the area's natural and human history; notably, it addressed the role of gold mining in catalyzing the European-American settlement of the area and discussed how this led to the removal of the Cherokee from the Southern Appalachians on the Trail of Tears. Brasstown Bald was known to the Cherokee as Enotah, though some severe misunderstanding led European settlers to believe that "Brasstown" somehow approximated the Cherokee name for the mountain. This highest summit in Georgia is part of the Blue Ridge Mountains but is separate from the main Blue Ridge crest in Georgia and is situated fully in the Tennessee River watershed.

I took the stairs up from the visitor center to the large, circular observation deck, which provided a view encompassing parts of Georgia, Tennessee, North Carolina, and South Carolina. The front ranges of the Blue Ridge stretched to both the southwest and the northeast; other Appalachian ranges were layered one after another to the north into North Carolina and Tennessee.

View from Brasstown Bald towards Tennessee

Looking along the Blue Ridge in Georgia, I spotted Blood Mountain, the highest point on the Appalachian Trail in Georgia and the spot that I had hiked at earlier that morning. Springer Mountain, the southern terminus of the Appalachian Trail, was less than 100 miles away. The parking area was clearly visible below and lone sentinels at the edge of the Piedmont like Yonah Mountain were also visible. On clear days, both the Atlanta skyline and Stone Mountain are purportedly visible to the south in the Piedmont.

Showers and shadows; Blood and Slaughter Mountains and the Blue Ridge in the distance

To the north, the ridges of Enotah stretched out towards the town of Hiawasee on the shores of Lake Chatuge; beyond the town was the state of North Carolina and the height of the Appalachians. While the Georgia mountains remained mostly cloaked in summer green, touches of fall color had begun to settle on the trees near the top of Brasstown Bald. As I gazed out at the endless views (there were surely no less than a hundred peaks visible from this summit), a late summer thunderstorm began to roll in. Not wishing to be atop the summit in a storm, I made a quick return to the parking area.

A tinge of autumn and a late summer thunderstorm sweep across the north Georgia towards Brasstown Bald

This isn't much of a hike- it's more of just a spot to visit- but it's certainly worth visiting as it's hard for me to imagine that the state of Georgia has any better views (I'd be more than happy to be proven wrong if you know of one, though!).

Anna Ruby Falls

Anna Ruby Falls

1 mile round trip, 160 feet elevation gain
Difficulty: Easy
Access: Paved road to trailhead, $3/person entrance fee required (Federal Interagency Passes accepted)

Tumbling off the slopes of Tray Mountain in the north Georgia Blue Ridge, Curtis and York Creeks together form the parallel pair of cascading water at Anna Ruby Falls. The hike through lush forest along a burbling Appalachian stream to this waterfall is paved and easy, making this a perfect scenic hike for hikers of just about any skill and fitness level.

I hiked this trail on a one-day whirlwind tour of the north Georgia; after arriving at Atlanta Hartsfield early in the morning on a red-eye, I hopped in a car and drove north, doing other short hikes at Blood Mountain and Brasstown Bald. This was the last of the three hikes of the day before I returned to Atlanta; I was lucky that I was able to see the falls at all, as the access road had only reopened after being temporarily blocked by debris from Hurricane Irma just two days before I arrived. For hikers driving up from Atlanta, the fastest approach is likely to take I-85 north, then I-985 north until it turns into US 23 and the freeway ends; turning left onto Georgia 384 a while after passing Gainesville and following it until coming to Georgia 75; turning right onto Georgia 75 and following it through faux-Bavarian Alpine Helen, then following the signs for Unicoi State Park and turning right onto Georgia 356 a mile north of Helen. About a mile up the road, I took a left onto the road signed for Anna Ruby Falls and followed it past the Unicoi State Park facilities until I reached the USFS-operated recreation area around Anna Ruby Falls at the end of the road.

Faux-Bavarian Helen

The entrance fee at the falls is $3 per person. As Anna Ruby Falls is operated by Chattahoochee National Forest and thus run by the US Forest Service, entrance to the site is included with any federal interagency lands pass, including the America the Beautiful Pass; however, my experience both here and at Brasstown Bald suggests that these passes very rarely show up in north Georgia, as USFS employees at both sites were initially hesitant to accept the pass before I explained the scope of lands covered by the federal interagency passes. If you have a federal interagency pass and it is refused at the site, you can direct USFS employees to the Chattahoochee National Forest webpage covering this site.

The trail starts right behind a gift shop and visitor center at the large trailhead parking lot. The wide, paved trail starts on the west (left) bank of Smith Creek, ascending fairly gently through a hardwood forest with plentiful rhododendrons and mountain laurel in the understory. This would undoubtedly be a splendid hike in May and June when floral blooms would decorate the trailside.

Trail to Anna Ruby Falls

In 200 yards, the trail crossed Smith Creek on a well-built bridge and offered close-up views of the small cascades on the burbling stream.

Smith Creek cascades down Tray Mountain

The trail continued on the east bank of the creek, following the creek close enough that I could closely observe many of the small, pleasant cascades. I was surprised that there was still decent flow in the stream at the close of summer, as most Blue Ridge streams in Virginia tend to dry up late in the summer; I wasn't sure whether Georgia streams fared better or whether the reasonably good water flow was due to a thuderstorm earlier that afternoon. The slopes around the trail steepened as the trail began entering the canyon that housed the falls; large rock outcrops rose directly from the side of the paved trail.

Cascades on Smith Creek

A few more minutes of walking brought me to two viewing platforms at the foot of Anna Ruby Falls marking the end of the hike. The lower platform, on the right (east) side of the creek had a better view of the falls as a whole: the waterfall is really three separate drops, two on Curtis Creek totalling a 150-feet drop and one smaller drop on York Creek; the lower drop on Curtis Creek happened to lie just yards away from the waterfall on York Creek and the two creeks merged to form Smith Creek immediately below the twin falls. The upper viewing platform, on the other side of the creek, had a close-up view of the lower Curtis Creek falls; however, the other two drops were at least partially obscured there.

Anna Ruby Falls

There were a fair number of people visiting the falls even on a hot, humid midweek day with thunderstorms, so it's likely that this spot attracts hoards of visitors on nice weekends. Nonetheless, the waterfall is very pretty and certainly worth a visit for hikers in Atlanta or elsewhere in north Georgia.

Yellow Aster Butte

Mount Baker and Yellow Aster Butte

8 miles round trip, 2900 feet elevation gain
Difficulty: Moderate to lower peak; rock scrambling necessary to obtain higher summit
Access: Rough gravel road to trailhead, Northwest Forest Pass required

From its position north of the North Fork Nooksack River in the North Cascades, Yellow Aster Butte offers a commanding view of two giants, Mounts Baker and Shuksan, as well as a sweeping panorama of the rest of the North Cascades. The North Cascades is known for the difficulty of its hikes; while not an easy trail, Yellow Aster Butte is certainly an exception to the idea that every good hike in the North Cascades requires a mile of elevation gain. The second half of the hike is fully in the open, making this an utterly enjoyable journey through open slopes of heather and huckleberry to the top of a small mountain. Hikers who wish to add on a rock scramble can tag the true summit of the butte for a fun, short scramble and even bigger views. In autumn, the changing foliage of the berry bushes along the trail make this an excellent fall color hike.

I hiked out to Yellow Aster Butte on a September Sunday when summer turned to fall. Leaving Seattle, I took I-5 north to Burlington, then Highway 20 east to Sedro-Woolley, then Highway 9 north to its junction with Highway 542, the Mount Baker Highway. I turned right to head east on the Mount Baker Highway, following it past Glacier until I reached the turnoff for the Twin Lakes Road (if you cross the Nooksack River and see signs for the Silver Fir Campground, you've gone too far). I turned onto Twin Lakes Road and followed it over five bumpy miles to the Yellow Aster Butte Trailhead. The road is in poor shape, with a few severe, car-eating potholes and protruding rocks, but it was manageable in a sedan driving slowly. There is no real lot at the trailhead, but the road is wide enough for roadside parking on each of the two switchbacks on the road leading out from the trailhead; I arrived a little after 10:30 AM and parking was more or less full, as this is a popular hike.

From the start, the trail immediately embarked on an uphill climb, pushing through some short switchbacks in the forest before emerging into an open avalanche slope on a long switchback. The open slope allowed views back down to the cars parked alongside the road below, upvalley towards the mountains around Twin Lakes, across to Goat Mountain, and southwest to Mount Baker.

Mount Baker view at the start of the trail

Upon re-entering the forest, the trail climbed steadily as it traversed the southern side of Yellow Aster Butte and soon entered the Mount Baker Wilderness. The climb through the forest here was surprisingly pleasant due to a soft dirt trail tread.

Entering the Mount Baker Wilderness

About three-quarters of a mile into the hike, the trail ascended through a series of switchbacks through the forest; at the top of the switchbacks, the trail emerged into a clearing at the bottom of a small basin with views of the nearby meadow-filled slopes, about 1.2 miles and 1100 feet up from the trailhead. Huckleberry patches dotted this clearing and I noted two campsites in the basin.

Berries

After passing through the basin, the trail recommitted to the ascent, climbing through forest briefly before breaking out into subalpine meadows of heather and huckleberries. Views were initially limited to the red and golden hues of autumn on the slopes near Gold Run Pass and Yellow Aster Butte but soon expanded to include Mount Baker rising to the southwest. Soon afterwards, I arrived at a trail junction, about 1.5 miles and 1500 feet uphill from the trailhead; Yellow Aster Butte was to the left, Tomyhoi Lake was to the right. I took the left fork and started on the trail to Yellow Aster Butte.

Views of Mount Baker near the Tomyhoi Lake-Yellow Aster Butte trail junction

Once on the Yellow Aster Butte trail, I got a reprieve from the constant ascent: the trail gained just 400 feet over the next mile and a half. The trail began to trace the huckleberry-filled slopes of the High Divide just below Gold Run Pass, soon moving onto the slopes of Yellow Aster Butte itself. Views to the south widened: after initially just being able to see Mount Baker, Mount Shuksan and Goat Mountain joined the fun.

Shuksan and Goat Mountain

The trail re-entered the forest for a short stretch, then reemerged into the open at a small basin wedged between two ridges of Yellow Aster Butte. Here, the trail ventured near a snow patch that had lasted through the summer and crossed a stream; this was the last reliable source of flowing water on the hike. Past the creek, the trail stayed out in the open for the rest of the way to the top of Yellow Aster Butte.

Stream flowing off Yellow Aster Butte

After crossing the creek, the trail made a brief climb as it began wrapping around towards the south side of Yellow Aster Butte. The lower summit of the butte was visible directly above and I spotted multiple people standing atop the peak. Although it was still early September, fall colors were everywhere: the berry bushes had all turned maroon.

Yellow Aster Butte

Once Mount Baker reemerged, the views became stunning and stayed that way for the rest of the hike.

No words.

When the trail finally turned around the southern end of the ridge of the butte, an extraordinary panorama unfolded of the open ridges of the High Divide, dotted with lakes, with Mount Baker and Mount Shuksan to the south. In the gap between Shuksan and Baker, I spotted the Mount Baker Highway snaking up from the Nooksack River to the ski area and Artist Point; farther way, behind Artist Point, I could see layer upon layer of peaks, including Whitehorse, Big Four, and Del Campo peaks, which were as far away as the Mountain Loop Highway.

Shuksan and Baker

High Divide

Fall colors at Yellow Aster Butte

At 3.5 miles from the trailhead, the trail arrived at the base of the west ridge of Yellow Aster Butte. Views opened to the north of bulky Tomyhoi Peak and the collection of jewel-like tarns at its foot. American and Canadian Border Peaks made their first appearance to the north.

Tomyhoi Peak and lakes

At this point, an unmarked trail broke off to the left, heading downhill into the lakes basin. I stayed on the Yellow Aster Butte trail, which at this point began heading steeply up the ridge, making a beeline for the summit. This was by far the steepest portion of the hike, packing 500 feet of elevation gain into about a quarter of a mile. Although steep, the ascent was made easier by the sweeping views of Baker and Shuksan.

Shuksan along the final ascent

Final ascent to the summit

3.75 miles from the trailhead, I finally arrived atop the south peak of Yellow Aster Butte. The summit had copious flat space to accommodate multiple hiking groups, although the top wasn't too crowded when I arrived. I lunched with views of Baker and Shuksan towering over the North Fork Nooksack River watershed. The summit provided an incredible vantge point to study the glaciers on both Shuksan and Baker. The north face of Shuksan displayed the Hanging Glacier, White Salmon Glacier, and the Price Glacier; I even spotted Price Lake at the foot of the mountain. On Baker, the Rainbow and Park Glaciers coated Kulshan's eastern face. I had a direct view of the Mazama Glacier and of the Sholes Glacier, which sits on the slopes of the Portals and Ptarmigan Ridge, where I had hiked the year before. The high, green ridge of Skyline Divide extended north (to the right) from the bulk of Baker itself and the craggy spires of the Black Buttes appeared behind the Roosevelt Glacier.

Mount Baker

To the west, the open ridgetop of the High Divide (not to be mistaken with the identically named ridge in Olympic National Park) stretched out to Church Mountain, the sharp peak that initiates the range. Tomyhoi Peak was joined in the north by American and Canadian Border Peaks and Mount Larrabee and the Pleiades. The true summit of Yellow Aster Butte was also visible to north.

High Divide and the tarns below Tomyhoi

To the east, I spotted both the lookout and the flagpole atop Winchester Mountain. Farther out, Mount Redoubt and the Pickets dotted the horizon; I also caught a rare glimpse of the massive Challenger Glacier covering the upper reaches of Mount Challenger. Closer in, Goat Mountain and Mount Sefrit were pointy spires on the skyline.

Mount Redoubt

After sufficiently enjoying these views, I decided to continue onward to the true summit of the butte (hikers who choose to skip scrambling to the true summit will shave a half mile round trip and 400 feet of elevation gain from the hike). The true summit is north along the ridgeline from the south peak and is about 40 feet or so taller. To reach that summit, I followed a well-trod social trail north from the lower peak: this trail descended the better part of 200 feet as it dropped from the south summit down to the ridgeline connecting the two summits. The quarter mile of trail along the spine of the butte between the two summits was absolutely spectacular, with open views to both sides.

Ridgeline walk connecting the two peaks

Yellow Aster Butte rigeline

The last hundred meters up to the true summit was a Class 2 rock scramble. This was not a difficult scramble; before I knew it I had arrived at the rocky true summit of Yellow Aster Butte. This summit is much quieter: while I ran into at least ten or so people at the south peak, I only saw two other hikers atop this peak.

From the summit, the view north featured Tomyhoi Lake at the foot of the Border peaks and Mount Larrabee. I also observed that the border was easy to discern: while the American side of the mountains is fully protected in the Mount Baker Wilderness, logging roads and a recent clearcut made clear where those protections ended and Canada began.

Canadian Border Peak, American Border Peak, and Mount Larrabee rise above Tomyhoi Lake

While the viewshed atop the true summit was more or less the same as that from the lower south peak, there were a few interesting additions of note: this peak offered a good perspective of the wall of the Pickets stretching south from Mount Challenger.

Mount Challenger and the Pickets, Goat Mountain

The views from Yellow Aster Butte were so beautiful that I was loathe to leave, finally heading back only to honor commitments I had made in Seattle later than evening.