Clear Day

Mount Baker (elevation 10,778 feet) is a glaciated andesiticstratovolcano in the Cascade Volcanic Arc and the Cascades ofWashington State in the United States about 30 miles due east of the city of (I want to live here) Bellingham, Whatcom County. It is also easily visible from much of Greater Victoria, Greater Vancouver and the Fraser Valley just across the Canadian border to the north, and especially from the communities of Mission and Abbotsford, both about 28 mi east ofVancouver, BC—as well as from some locations in Everett and even Seattle to the southwest. Local Native Americans call the mountain "Koma Kulshan," but the explorer George Vancouver named the mountain for 3rd Lieutenant Joseph Baker of the HMS Discovery, who saw it on April 30,1792. Spanish explorers were the first Europeans to see Mount Baker. The first record comes from the 1790 expedition of Manuel Quimper andGonzalo López de Haro. They gave it the name La gran montana del Carmelo.

After Mount Rainier, Baker is the most heavily glaciated of the Cascade volcanoes: the volume of snow and ice on Mount Baker (0.43 cubic miles) is greater than that of all the other Cascades volcanoes (except Rainier) combined. It is also one of the snowiest places in the world: in 1999, Mount Baker Ski Area, located on a subsidiary peak, set the world record for snowfall in a single season. (1,140 inches/95 feet)

Mt. Baker was one of my favorite parts of the trip. Snowboarding there was absolutely incredible!! There was over a 200" of snow at the resort and the time we were they we received over 2 feet of snowfall in less than 6 hours! The unique thing about snowboarding here is that you are actually snowboarding over the tops of trees and huge bolder' beneath the snow. You have to be careful though because one false step in deep snow could send you sinking into the depths!!