08/10/03:
7 forest fires going on over where I was camped by Glacier Peak. Apparently started by lightning the other day, rather than campers. The smoke wasn't bad but the helicopters flying directly overhead while transporting buckets of water was too much.
Started raining this morning so that should help the firefighters out. I headed up to Mount Baker in the rain and it's still raining, seriously, late in the afternoon. I'm at the Park Butte Trailhead on the southern slope of Mount Baker waiting for a break in the weather. This is supposed to be a spectacular hike and I'm not going to miss it.
08/11/03 Hiking Park Butte Trail(7 miles round trip):
Park Butte Trail begins at 3350 feet and climbs to 5450 feet in 3.5 miles. Low 40's, cloudy and overcast with the sun trying to break through at 7:30am. The trail immediately passes the lower Scott Paul Trail junction, crosses a bridge and proceeds easily along a boardwalk for a mile or so. Teasing glimpses of Mount Baker can be seen poking through the treetops.
A swinging bridge crosses the runoff from glacier melt and the views got better. Just beyond the bridge is a larger runoff. Follow the runoff for a few yards to a log bridge and then hop a couple of rocks to the other side. From here the trail turns upwards.
At 4400 feet, approximately 2 miles, the trail passes the upper Scott Paul Trail junction. Heavy fog up here with no trace at all of the sun. Lots of mist swirling around.
The Railroad Grade junction is at 4650 feet across a flat meadow with tall bluffs and fields of flowers. I came around a bend and got a good view of a tall peak. Then another and next to it a big white cloud... except it wasn't a big white cloud. It was Mount Baker glaciers a mile away with big white clouds moving across it. I grabbed a couple of photos while I could still see something. I also got a glimpse of the Park Butte Lookout Station before clouds moved in again and visibility dropped to 150 feet.
The Mazama Park Trail junction appeared as I started climbing the last 1000 feet to Park Butte. Several small ponds can be found at 5100 feet. A bench is also there, presumably to rest and enjoy all the great views hidden by the clouds and fog.
The lookout is at 5450 feet but the entire area was shrouded in clouds, just a big gray wall of nothing. I hung around for an hour and watched small bits and pieces of the surrounding mountains appear and disappear. Kinda like a stripper teasing you by showing a little bit of this, then a little bit of that but never everything at once. It's up to you to use your imagination to form a picture of the total picture.
I was getting ready to leave when the clouds lifted and there was Mount Baker across a small valley. Two minutes later it was total gray again and I left.
Hiking Scott Paul Trail(6 miles round trip):
On the way back I decided to switch off to the Scott Paul Trail Loop. This is a loop that shoots off to the right of the Park Butte Trail, that was all I knew about it.
The trail went around a ravine and then descended several hundred feet to another swinging bridge across the big runoff with great views of the nearby Mount Baker glaciers. I figured the trail would work its way downward from here towards the trailhead. Wrong! Instead it headed upwards towards glaciers. Before I knew it I was back up to 5300 feet.
The trail offered many good views of Mount Baker as well of good views of the ranges and valleys to the east. Wide fields of multi-colored flowers and sub-alpine pines and spruces add another dimension to the views. The trail then turns down steeply through forest for a couple of miles to the trailhead.
08/12/03 Hiking Park Butte Trail(again):
Well, I tried the Park Butte Trail again today without success. There was a lot of blue along with a lot of white clouds early this morning so I started up the trail again. Like yesterday, the heavy overcast moved in as I gained some altitude. When I got to Morovitz Meadows I had 1-2 mile visibility towards Baker Lake but the top half of Mount Baker and surrounding peaks were obscured. Other valleys were lost in gray. So instead of proceeding on to the lookout I veered off onto the Railroad Grade Trail.
This trail led up some steps through some campsites onto a steep, narrow ridge. As soon as I got up on the ridge I had great views of Easton Glacier on the southwest part of Mount Baker. Blue shone through a lot of the crevasses forming at the bottom of the glacier.
As I climbed up along the ridge I saw about 10 marmots going about their business. The younger ones would stay on the trail and just about let you walk right past them. The larger, older ones would scurry off to a safer distance.
I followed the ridge up for a mile until I was even with the edge of the glacier and High Camp. If I had the legs I could have dropped down a couple hundred feet on the steep slope and been right at the end (or beginning) of Easton Glacier. The scramble back up would have been more than my legs would have appreciated, though.
I wanted to have lunch there at 5600 feet but the temperature was in the high 30's and a 5-10mph wind was sending a chill through me. I backtracked to the Park Butte Trail Junction where I had lunch. A bunch of gray birds (camp robbers) 3/4 the size of a robin swooped down on me. Several hopped onto my foot and then onto my knee while one actually landed on my hat. I covered the bagel with my hand and one actually came up and tried to peck at it between my fingers before I shooed it away.
Clouds and fog still looked ominous so I started back down rather than continue on to the lookout. Passed quite a few people on the way down on this Tuesday. A total of 10-12 backpackers and 15 or so day hikers.
08/13/03 Hiking Park Butte Trail(again):
Finally got bright sunshine and had a great hike. This trail was everything I had hoped for and more. My laptop broke so I didn't write a trip report then and now, a month later, I don't remember all the details.