Snowshoe hike and video for 28 January 2022

Mount Rainier was a good hike but we decided it was not enough so on Friday, 28 Jan 2022, we did a snowshoe hike at Mount Baker.

Summary - 3.0 miles, 2:30 hours, 767 feet elevation gain.

We drove up toward the Mt. Baker ski area and then to the parking above Artist Point around Heather Meadows.  As a Friday, there was plenty of room to park.  As we passed the Mt. Baker White Salmon ski area, it looked pretty busy (three of four cars turned off there and we continued past).  The Heather Meadows facilities were closed as was the ski area, and that gave us some relief.

There were a few skiers but most were snowshoers.  The remaining few were in boots, often with Yak-traks or similar traction devices.  If one wanted to stick to the well-trodden trails, boots were sufficient.  We went off-trail in several places and the snowshoes were necessary to avoid postholes.  The day was sunny and warm, the wind relatively still.  It was not as warm as it had been on Rainier earlier in the week, so I kept a jacket on.  This was probably a mistake as the jacket arms were sodden at the end of the hike.  I unzipped the main zipper and the pit-zips, so my torso stayed dry.  

I have a lot of still photos from this area, in summer and in winter, so I used this as a chance to practice more with my GoPro (Hero 8 Black).  On Rainier, I generally went for long shots, many minutes at a time but on Baker, I tried a different filming technique.  I took more short shots, mostly panning shots of the scenery when I stopped, and a couple of walking shots on the way out.  I used my GravGrip stabilization device for the first half-hour, but it proved annoying to get in and out of my pocket.  More importantly, it did not seem to be doing anything to help.  I wanted it to help keep a level horizon, but it seemed to want to settle off-kilter.  I have a recollection that the counterweight could pivot to balance better, but it wouldn't move.  As a result, it did stabilize the shots a little but it was not aligned with the horizon.  I will play with it to find better technique, but I when to conventional handheld for the rest of the hike.  The in-camera stabilization seemed to work pretty well; I have forgotten if the camera does any horizon leveling, but the results are acceptable.

At the top of the hike, overlooking Mt. Baker and a large valley (must have been the Chain Lakes Loop Trailhead overlooking Ptarmigan Ridge), I got a phone call.  Given the quirks of geology and topology, it was a service area for cell phones.