Bald Mountain & Cutthroat Lakes

Great drive to this trailhead. The Malardy Ridge road is one of the smoothest logging roads in the Stillaguamish valley. Knowing that this trail has increased (deservedly) in popularity in the last two years, we arrived early enough to find good parking. We saw just a couple other hikers on the way up, but passed two dozen on the way down.
I was disappointed in the berry crop this year, the berries were extremely sparse, half the size they should be and rather bland. Normally by this time of year the Cutthroat Lakes basin below the summit is awash in a rainbow of fall colors, the evergreens surrounded by the yellows, reds & oranges of the autumnal palette, but this year, just like my garden at home, everything seems to be late and undersized. Still, even swathed in granite gray and forest green, it is a beautiful place in the transition zone between foothills forest and sub-alpine.
The wildflowers, though not exactly numerous, added nice little accents of color here and there along the trail, with bluebells, two types of aster, heliotrope, trillium and red columbine. In another 2-3 weeks, with help from cooler weather, we may yet see fall in all its glory, but at this point its a race against time and the first snowfall.