Mt. Baker Fog
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Tag Archives: Mt. Baker
Off to Heliotrope Ridge!
Taking a rare Thursday off from work and heading up to the Heliotrope Ridge trail, to get up close and personal with the Coleman Glacier and Mt. Baker!
One of the blessings of living in Bellingham is that there is so much hiking nearby, and yet there is so much so close that I often satisfy my hiking habit within a fairly short distance from my home, sadly rarely making it out and up to the Cascade Mountains just about an hour’s drive away.
But, when you have a day off and a friend in town from southern California who has never been in the Cascades, well, it’s a perfect time to head up for some of that alpine goodness; stands of old trees, meadows of heather, wildflowers, and blueberries; glaciers; and our friendly neighborhood active volcano.
Cheers!!!
Bellingham’s Early Spring Arrives
Well, it’s that time of year again. Time to celebrate the arrival of spring, which in Bellingham happens, as I wrote last year, surprisingly early.
Though it was only a week or so ago when we had subzero temperatures and snow, for the past few days we’ve had lovely sunshine and temperatures in the low to mid 50s.
I just took the photo you see here, of those oh so welcome crocus that prop up in our yard year after year, signaling that Mother Nature’s annual reset button has been pushed. It is something I revel in.
At the same time, I’m not a winter hater, and I am hoping to get up to Mt. Baker to ski a few more times before the end of the season.
It’s the best of both worlds, right now, in Bellingham. Hooray!
Much Ado About Logo
Yesterday, my employer, Western Washington University, unveiled a new logo, the product of many, many hours of research, deliberation, design, redesign, and student feedback, and from the reaction you’d think that the logo was an unmitigated disaster.
Judge for yourself:
Pretty nice, huh? I particularly like the abstract swoopy line representation of Mt. Baker and the swoopy water elements, how they capture the sense of place, a campus nestled between the Cascade Mountains and Puget Sound, important when you consider that for years surveys have clearly indicated that the main reason students choose to come to Western is: location, location, location.
For contrast, the old logo:
Here, the “location” consists of the front doors of the main administrative building on campus, Old Main, a place students go to when they have to pay tuition, check on their financial aid, complain about not being able to get into the classes they need, go for help at the Tutorial Center when they are struggling academically, or go for help at the Counseling Center when they are struggling emotionally.
Personally, I like the more positive associations of the new logo, and yet, posts on WWU’s online discussion forum, Viking Village, are full of the kind of vitriol usually reserved for tuition increases, the cost of textbooks, or dining hall food.
I’ve had some personal experience in logo design, not as the designer, but as a member of the design review and approval committee, and I can say unequivocally that it is an exhausting, brutal process. Subjectivity is a very powerful fact of life, and graphic designers are usually sensitive, creative people who have to have the patience of Job, making dozens and dozens of revisions, great and small, under a delusion that it’s actually possible to please everyone on the committee.
In an act that was nothing short of heroic, the student designer who worked on the Western logo, noticing how strong the reaction was, posted a new thread on the forum, identifying himself as the designer, and offering to answer any questions his fellow students might have.
Sadly, he’s been spared no mercy.
It would be funny if it weren’t so disturbing, that people could get so angry about something so insignificant.
Fire & Ice
Stephen Trinkaus, owner of Bellingham’s very fine organic market, Terra Organica, posted the following photo on Facebook yesterday, a shot he took near the top of Chair 1 at the Mt. Baker Ski Area.
While Mt. Baker, one of the primary local icons, is visible from various spots around town, it is easy to forget that our beloved icon is an active volcano merely 31 miles due east.
This photo, however, is a subtle and yet very powerful reminder. That little fumarole plume seems to say, “Don’t be fooled by all this snow and ice, silly humans, for I am proof that not far below the surface of this frozen scene lies a sea of 2,000°F molten rock that could, at any time, blow the lid off of this pretty mountain, wreaking widespread havoc and destruction, so enjoy your chairlift ride while you can.”
(BTW, a fellow Bellingham blogger and “Back Easter” wrote a very entertaining post on this very subject back in October. I highly recommend it.)
Mt. Baker 2010-2011: Day 2
If you are a skier or snowboarder and fortunate enough, as I am, to be able to afford your rather expensive winter recreational activity of choice, and you see a snow report like this:
…it’s almost impossible to not go!
Ironically, my usual ski/board companions — the Mrs. and the son — are, as I type this, settling in for a week at Grandma’s timeshare condo in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico. So, I’ve rallied a few friends to carpool to Mt. Baker and frolic with me in the snow this Sunday.
Yippee!!!
