Yellow Aster Butte and Artist Point

 Julia, Maeby, and Joanna headed to the North Cascades earlier this week. We left Yellow Aster Butte trailhead around 2:30pm and climbed 2,000 ft in the heat to the meadows below the butte for camping. The scenery was out of this world. Perhaps as good as the Enchantments. There were only 4 other parties spread out over a huge meadow area. Maeby was perfectly behaved too. The next morning we hiked back down to the car and drove on a treacherous dirt road to Artist's Point near Mount Baker. The plan was to hike Chain Lakes Loop and/or Ptarmigan Ridge. But wildfire smoke had come in and temps were headed to the high 80s. We didn't want to chance it, especially with Maeby, so we opted instead to hike to Huntoon Point and then have lunch in Bellingham and get home in time for Bingo Night at the rec club. Final stats for the 2 days: 10 miles, 2,300 feet (it seemed harder than the stats!). Awesome trip!