The next day, we explore the other side of Baker by driving up the Mount Baker highway to its twisty, winding high altitude terminus. From here we can get close ups of Mount Shuksan, a craggy North Cascades giant, and of the east side of Baker. From down here, it looks so peaceful and simple - but then so do most large mountains when viewed from a distance. Later that day, just outside of a pizza joint in Abbotsford, BC, we look down a main street and see Baker gleaming right behind the traffic lights - a weird juxtaposition, to be sure. Even our specific climbing route is visible.....
We spend our final day and a half crossing back in to BC, and doing a bit of easy exploring - visiting, for example, the Whistler resort area.
And so when all is said and done the trip really did go very excellently; we accomplished all that we set out to accomplish, and Markus and Peter proved to be excellent hiking and climbing partners. Thanks, guys.
...Andrew