John Guilford's Hikes

Yellow Aster Butte on 2026-09-08

Date: 2026-09-08

Location: Yellow Aster Butte

People: (including myself): Happy Hikers

			  		Alt.	Miles
Trailhead:			8:50	3700	0
Trail to Tomyhoi Lake:		10:05	5174	2
Below climb to knoll:		11:10	5770	3.8
Lunch knoll:			11:30	6181	4.1
Leave for summit:		12:00
Summit:				12:20	6257	4.5
Lunch knoll:			12:50	6181	4.9
Down from knoll:		1:20	5770	5.1
Trail to Tomyhoi Lake:		2:15	5770	7
Trailhead:			3:10	3700	8.8

It was a glorious autumn day with no smoke, blue skies (with some clouds later to make photos more interesting).

The carpool met in Stanwood before dawn for the drive up. The road to the trailhead is about 12 miles past the Glacier Public Service Center. The gravel road was only about 4-1/2 miles long, and while it wasn't as bad as some, it was pretty potholed.

It was cool in the morning, and I wondered if I'd be cold, but the sun was out and that made it feel warm.

The trail starts off climbing immediately. It was somewhat shaded initially, but with the climbing I was plenty warm enough. Eventually the long sleeve shirt came off, and I just used the t-shirt for the rest of the hike. In lieu of sunglasses (which I had brought), I kept my regular glasses and wore my hat. The wide brim shades my eyes and worked okay to make things comfortable.

The trail climbs up a hillside, sometimes in shade, sometimes in sunny sloping meadows. It then crosses a ridge towards Yellow Aster Butte. The trail then takes a big horseshoe circle to the right around the top end of the valley (on the other side of the ridge). It is an interesting hike as for much of it (after crossing the ridge) you can see the objective and appreciate how much higher it is. Likewise, from the top you can look down and see the trail waaaay down below. Part way along the loop the trail branches with one branch going to Tomyhoi Lake and the other to the butte. This part of the trail is pretty nice as while it is still climbing, the slope is gentler than elsewhere. There are great views of Mt. Baker and Shuksan, as well as other surrounding peaks (some in Canada) on the trail.

On the far side of the valley the slope picks up some, climbing around the left side of the butte. I had a second granola bar to give me some energy for the big climb coming up. As you go around that end, a vista of high alpine lakes open up. This is a popular backpacker destination. After curving around the butte, you get the final push up to what I'll call our Lunch Knoll. It didn't seem as long nor as hard getting up to the knoll as I recalled it from last year, but it was still a slog.

The knoll is a rounded top that makes a great place for lunch. That isn't the summit of the butte, however. The trail continues, but it isn't nearly as nice beyond the knoll. You have to drop down a couple hundred feet in even steeper terrain, the cross a narrow ridge to the real summit, then climb up it. The latter is more of a rock scramble than a trail. After eating lunch at the knoll, a number of us decided to give the real summit a go. I opted to leave my backpack at the knoll and just go with my poles and camera. At the summit, which isn't that wide, we took some photos.

The trail was rough between the knoll and summit, a little rough leading up to the knoll, but most of it was actually pretty nice which I appreciated after the rockier trails on hikes such as Colchuck. There were places to step down, but much of it was more sloping packed earth which made the hiking easier. It was a delightful temperature, I thought. It was probably upper 60s or low 70s. In the sun it felt warm. Some of my group thought it was hot, but I was pretty comfortable. We got down a bit after 3. I judged the water perfectly. I brought two bottles on the hike, finishing the last one not too far from the trailhead. I had a 3rd bottle I left in the car and which I drank on the drive home.