Mark admires the view off the east side of Anderson Mt., looking down at the South Fork Nooksack Valley and the Twin Sisters (in the clouds) near the Whatcom / Skagit county line.
Another wonderful ride with Mark Belles, this time on Anderson Mt. (sometimes called Alger Mt.), which we accessed off the road that runs from Alger to Lake Whatcom.
We climbed a logging road, and made very good time. Looking down at my Suunto at the 45
minute mark, I realized I had a chance for a personal best, so I applied the jets. Mark
said later, "I looked up, and you were gone."
I ended up with 2200 verts in an hour, which is my best logging road climbing time ever. I got 2130 on my Specialized Stumpjumper FSR XC and 2190 on my Cannondale Jekyll on Black Mt., but both times I allowed myself two short rests -- so I didn't climb for an hour straight as I did today.
The best was still to come, though. When we got to the top of the mountain, we found
the trail that Mark had heard about, and it quickly dropped us into a gorgeous old forest.
Eventually, we came to a fork in the trail with a sign that said Alger one way and
Wickersham the other.
We took the Alger fork, which turned into an old logging road traverse around to where
the road we climbed up on was blocked to motor traffic. There we encountered a bunch of
elderly wild plant enthusiasts.
They showed us a map which indicated that one or more of the water-barred spur roads on
our left as we climbed led down to a "big stump," and then a trail back down to
the base of the mountain.
Mark and I both agreed we'd like to come back and explore this, as well as the fork to
Wickersham.
Approximately 3300 verts.
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