An Alger Alp Morning and a New Internship

I'm baaaack! I know, I vanished. I haven't done a whole lot of hiking lately. I've been busy and until these last couple weeks, the weather has been crap, so yeah. I haven't been able to keep much of a schedule.

I have a new internship in Mt. Vernon that's keeping me working long days. I did the math and figured that between internship, the resort, and the paper route, I'm working 72 hours a week. Most of that is unpaid due to the internship.

I've also been working on legal name-change stuff, so too much free time has been spent in the social security and DMV offices. *makes gagging sound*

I did make it up to Alger Alp last Sunday, though! I've already written a guide about it before, though I don't think I looped around the beaver pond the last time. I did start at Squires Lake as usual. I still have the purple fuzzy handcuffs on my pack, and there was a group of cub scouts or something similar at the trailhead when I got there. The parents gave me wary looks and gave me a nice, long headstart for some reason.

Leaving the park to head to the hill.

It was a beautiful day for a hike. I brought my hiking buddy with me.

Along South Ridge Trail

Once we hit Alger Alp proper, the bugs did start attacking us. I need to get more bug repellent. I ran out and made a mental note to get more. That mental note became buried under lots of other mental post-its though. I forgot. I forgot until I went to reach into my pack for some and there was none left. Oops.

White trail marker means you're on the PNT.

I found an itty bitty 'naner slug. He curled up when I came near and despite waiting for him to poke his head back out, he kept being shy.

Shy guy

Ozzy found a mini fir to water.

I noticed one of the signs for 1300 was taken down, with a new marker that read 1100 in its place. All the other markers read 1300, so I'm not sure if someone was just messing around or if they'll be reassigning the roads soon.

No vehicles had been on 1300 anytime recently, but 1000 had fresh-ish tire tracks, so they could be planning some upcoming logging in the area. We'll have to wait and see at this point.

Proof of purple handcuffs

Fortunately it was breezy enough at the top to keep the bugs at bay, so we had time to relax and enjoy the views.

It was low 80's and pretty muggy, so I was pretty sweaty at the top.

Just LOOK at this adorable face!

Some sort of pink flower growing out of the cliff.

On the way down, I added the Beaver Pond Loop, which is just an extension of the Squires Lake Loop.

Did not see any beavers

I was a bit miffed to notice that there was a decent-sized oil sheen across the pond. It's not visible in the photos, but it was there. A logging road runs alongside the north side of the pond, and the outlet stream is on the south end, so all the pollution has to cross the entire span to drain out.

Back down at Squires Lake I ran into the cub scouts again and got more looks. One look back at the lake before hiking down shows Alger Alp in the background.

In a week I hope to re-hike Sugarloaf as well as some of the other ACFL trails. Crossing fingers for more fantastic weather!

A View of Skagit - Squires Lake to Alger Alp

Right now I'm only getting about one "real" day off every 2 weeks between school and internships. Inevitably, I dedicate this day to homework. One of my instructors then told me I had to get outside and get some vitamin D.

My husband also got his fishing license and wanted to go do that, so we decided to go to Squires Lake so he could fish and I could hike with the dog.

Squires Lake to Alger Alp

Skagit County Parks & Rec

(Original PNT Map)

Parking Permit: none needed

Distance: 4.5 miles round-trip

Elevation gain: 1200 ft

To get to Squires Lake, you want to take I-5 exit 242 to Nulle Roa and head East until you see the trailhead on the left-hand side of the road. It's a decent turn-out with lots of parking.

And an accessible privy!

Squires Lake park itself is fairly nice on its own, with a loop trail that wraps around the lake and an off-shoot that leads to a nearby beaver pond.

Helpful map!

It's a quick warm-up to get to the lake, with plenty of steep switch-backs, but it's not too long.

The husband climbing with his gear.

Fun fact, the first time my husband went fishing, he called me freaking out slightly. He had just recently moved to the area.

Hubs: "There's something rustling in the bushes nearby and it makes a weird sound."
Me: "It's Sasquatch."
Hubs: "I think it's getting closer."
Me: "Sasquatch is coming for you."

Then in the background of the call, I heard a weird sound.

Me: "Did that sound just happen again?"
Hubs: "Yeah. What is that?"
Me: "I really don't know, but I think it's Sasquatch."

Eventually I found a matching sound clip online. As it turns out, beavers make really weird noises. Go figure.

Anyway, back to our hike. We reached the lake, and from there we went our separate ways. The husband headed left to go clockwise around to the other side of the lake.

Squires Lake.

I in turn went right to head south. To get to Alger Alp, you want to follow the Pacific Northwest Trail for a bit. Part of it intersects the park. I turned on South Ridge Trail, following the white paint marks that are indicative of the PNT.

Trail markers

You'll quickly come to a short "viewpoint", but it isn't much.

"Viewpoint"

Keep hanging right on the trail, and you'll eventually leave Squires Lake Park.

Goodbye, park!

The trail follows the ridge you're on south, and has much better sights than the "viewpoint" that's in the park.

This is better!

The trail is more primitive than what is in the parks, but it's still easy to follow. When in doubt, just keep an eye for the white paint marks.

Eventually, you'll break out into a clearing of an old skid road.

Old skid road

Looking back at where the trail breaks out

You'll still see PNT trail markers, but since we're going to the summit you now want to pay more attention to the roads you're on instead of the trail. Though you won't see it at first, you're starting out on Road 1300.

Some people make their own trail markers.

You'll want to follow the road until you find Road 1000. It should be the third left. There are several junctions, and they all look the same, so just pay attention to where you're going.

Just don't veer off the wrong junction.

When you meet 1000, take it up. It should lead you around some nice rocky cliffs.

This is Road 1000. It looks like all the other ones so pay attention to signage.

Rocky bits.

There are some nice peek-a-boo view of the foothills to the east, including the patchwork clear-cuts that dot this part of the landscape.

Logging!

It's a nice, steady climb all the way up as the road coils around the hill. At the top, relax at a viewpoint to take in views of Skagit Valley and Blanchard Mountain.

View!

My cell phone camera didn't quite cooperate, making it look hazier than it was, but I could see all the way out to the Salish Sea and Fidalgo Island.

Behold the view!

In the pic below between the two foreground hills, you can just make out Mt. Erie and Sugarloaf in the distance.

Hills!

On the descent I saw a bit of Mt. Baker hiding behind some clouds.

My phone decided to photograph the blue sky, too.

On the descent don't forget to turn back on Road 1300 to head back to the lake!

If you get lost in thought you might miss it.

Back at the lake, I met back up with the husband.

Gone fishin'

He actually caught a fish. I think it's a trout? I don't know fish.

It's some sort of gill-bearing creature.

It was quite edible. The dog kept trying to snack on it as we hiked back to our vehicle.

Something fishy

I did not permit the dog to lick me on the drive home.