Wildflower Meadows Hike - Yellow Aster Butter! (Medium)

NOTE : I created a Discord community with a channel named "7-20-yellow-aster-butte" to facilitate communication for this specific event, since the meetup app doesn't always work well. You can join here:

https://discord.gg/4TC5TrU2

Join us for an incredibly scenic hike with views of alpine meadows of wildflowers, old growth forests, and snowy peaks! This hike is considered one of the most scenic hikes in Washington.

The hike is approximately 7.5 miles roundtrip and is a 2550 ft gain. I have never hiked it before, but my impression is that it is generally considered a medium hike by Washington standards. We will be going at a somewhat relaxed pace, aiming for 30 minutes per mile, maybe a bit slower. Do not join for this hike if this is your first hike of the season unless you are in exceptional shape.

https://www.wta.org/go-hiking/hikes/yellow-aster-butte

Bring hiking shoes or at least tennis shoes, at least two liters of WATER, and appropriate clothing. Be sure to either eat a snack/meal before coming or bring a sandwich or portable meal! This trip involves a lot of driving, almost 3 hours each way, so we will probably be stopping to purchase snacks, but it might not hurt to purchase snacks for the car ahead of time.

We will drive to this trailhead:

https://maps.app.goo.gl/PgTFUR2G2cKP61og8

Everything below relates to carpooling:

We'll meet at the Starbucks in the long narrow public parking lot along Westlake Ave at 8 AM and split into our carpools at around 8:15! Let us know before 8 AM if you are on your way. We generally wait 15 minutes for people to arrive. If you are arriving with your own car, be sure to park in a spot marked "ALL DAY" parking (in case you end up not driving)! Please coordinate carpools in the comments or better yet, the google doc!

https://docs.google.com/document/d/127v0pIbP6YLorfKAgY9d-afb9cm9NVkcP0xA25y0hvY/edit?usp=sharing

Please post if you can drive or if you need a ride!

Riders are expected to (at a bare minimum) split the cost of gas evenly between the driver and the other passengers, as well as a reasonable amount for projected wear and tear on the vehicle.

If you are going to arrange your carpool to meet somewhere OTHER THAN the Starbucks on Lake Union, I suggest a park and ride such as Greenlake, Northgate, Eastgate, or Tukwila/SouthCenter. Passengers, please do not ask to be picked up at your home; drivers, please don't offer to do so. It usually creates problems and makes the timing and logistics much more complicated, since people often aren't ready on time, cancel last minute, or just plain don't show up. On the other hand, dropping people off at their home after the hike is much easier.

I strongly discourage meeting at the trailhead unless you need to, especially if you haven't already been to one of our meetups before. People who drive themselves often arrive earlier or later than us, don't recognize us, go to the wrong place, and/or get stressed out. Most trailheads don't have cell signal, so we will lose the ability to communicate issues at some point during the drive.