Yellow Aster Butte-Tomyhoi Lake Trails

This trail is a good mix of forest and open meadow with a good payoff of a good all round view of the North Cascades from the top including Baker ( no close glacier views however) . No deep streams to worry about. A significant portion of the 2400 foot rise occurs immediately from the trail head through the forest and so there is little time to warm up! This year in mid August the intermediate bowl below the final plateau below the butte was snow covered and the flowers were late( previous year in full bloom and no snow above)Care needed on the bowl as the snow melts especially at the edges where the snow is melting below creating weak edges. The final 200-300 foot to the summit is a sharp steep rise on grass - could be slippy in rain . On the return the main issue is the steep bottom trail through the woods when the knees are getting sore(though good shade from hot sun in the late afternoon . A good work out - not a gentle stroll. Takes about 2.5 hours up and 2 hours down. Road up to trail head ok even for rental cars. Road above this trail-head to the Winchester mountain trail-head really required 4 wheel drive high SUV's