After a couple of days in Seattle, we made our way northwards, directly to the Mt. Baker National Forest. We stayed at the Inn at Mount Baker http://www.theinnatmtbaker.com/), which was absolutely excellent, providing a spectacular view of Mt. Baker itself, some 15 miles away. On the first afternoon we drove up to Artist Point, which had only been open about a week due to the remnants of the heavy snow coverage that had left the road impassable well into July! Artist point involves a large parking lot at the end of the road from which many hikes can be commenced. We arrived late in the afternoon, at the beginning of sunset. We remained until darkness...we and a handful of other photographers, taking in the stunning sunset over the North Cascades (you can see images of that sunset at http://www.dhaimages.com).