Information about this hike provided in partnership with
Mountaineers Books.
Copyright © Craig Romano/The Mountaineers Books Church Mountain
Featured In:
Day Hiking: North Cascades,
by Craig Romano.
A portion of all book sales from the links above benefits WTA and helps protect and maintain our trails. Start off easy enough on an old road turned delightful trail. But after an easy 0.5 mile of minimal elevation gain, ascending begins with a vengeance. At least the old-growth canopy makes prospects for overheating minimal. Occasional holes in the green cloak reveal the North Fork Nooksack River roaring below. Traversing southern slopes, the lower half of this trail often melts out by late spring. By late summer however, it can be quite dry-pack plenty of water. At 2.5 miles, after seemingly endless climbing, the grade eases up and the forest cover thins. At 3 miles emerge into an open basin (elev. 4800 ft) beneath Church's spires. Meadows! Wildflowers! Look at them all - paintbrush, buttercup, columbine, violets, lousewort, saxifrage, stonecrop, cinquefoil, lupine, penstemon, lilies, asters, bistort, and valerian. Soon the trail crosses Deer Horn Creek in a boggy orchid-strewn swale. Then it's back to business. In heather parklands and steep meadowy slopes, the trail works its way out of the basin. Be careful here, as the trail is subject to slumping. Making a long switchback, the trail enters a small rocky upper basin where snow often lingers into August. Just beneath the craggy ridge crest, the trail heads west to angle under and up and over some rocky sections. Pass the ruins of a shed and an old precariously placed privy before making the final push to a 6100-foot knoll. Just beneath Church's summit spires (reserved for climbers and angels), this airy point (keep children, dogs, and the vertigo-inclined nearby) was once blessed with a fire lookout. The views, however, remain-and they're divine. Look south to Shuksan, Baker and the Skyline Divide, the Twin Sisters, and all the way to Rainier; west to the San Juans; and east across the verdant and craggy High Divide. North it's Canyon Ridge, big beautiful British Columbia, and straight below, in a snowbound basin, the Kidney Lakes.
Driving Directions:
From Bellingham follow the Mount Baker Highway (State Route 542) east for 34 miles to the Glacier Public Service Center. Continue east for another 5.4 miles, turning left onto Forest Road 3040 (East Church Mountain Road). Follow FR 3040 for 2.7 miles to the road end and trailhead (elev. 2350 ft). Recent Trip Reports
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Church Mountain
— Nov 21, 2011
— Kristine
Day hike
Issues:
Road to trailhead inaccessible
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Tried going up FR 3040 today in a two wheel drive crossover SUV and was unable to due to ice...
Tried going up FR 3040 today in a two wheel drive crossover SUV and was unable to due to ice on the road. There wasn't too much snow so if the temperature warms up a bit and the ice melts, it may not be a problem. We thought about hiking to the trailhead because it's only 2.7 mi from the road but we couldn't find a good place to leave the car. Better luck next time.
Day hike
Features:
Fall foliage
Issues:
Water on trail | Snow on trail
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Flickr: http://bit.ly/church-mountain
If Church Mountain had an actual church on the summit, we were the only members who attended the service...
Flickr: http://bit.ly/church-mountain
If Church Mountain had an actual church on the summit, we were the only members who attended the service on this day. This was the farthest north I have ever driven to a hike, and the closest I've been to the Canadian border! I was more excited about seeing the other side of the border than anything else. Without the snow, it would have been another ordinary hike. With the snow, the parts that required some scrambling were still fairly straightforward, not much route guessing even without the GPS. Snow level at 3,500', and I held off on using spikes for another 1,000 feet or so. Trail soon disappeared the minute we broke out of the woods and into the basin. The slight indentation in the 1 1/2 to 2-feet of snow gave a good indication that the trail was most likely underneath it. Mostly sunny, but the views across the valley to the south were hit and miss due to lingering clouds. Even though I wasn't postholing, after a few long switchbacks and thigh-burning climbs, I finally put on snowshoes at 5,700', about 400' short of the summit. The views to the east the north were semi-decent, but the views to the south were still hit and miss. Mount Baker was still nowhere to be seen and I was a bit disappointed. Some of the Canadian peaks were visible but still a little hazy. We stayed at the top for an hour waiting for the stubborn clouds to go away but to no avail, so we headed down the mountain. Back at the basin was when Baker and the peaks across the valley finally showed their faces. We stayed in the basin long enough to snap some decent photos and then went on our merry way. By the time we got back to the car, the area was once again submerged in clouds. Day hike
Issues:
Water on trail | Snow on trail
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It was overcast and raining on the drive to the trail head, but Sunday was the only day I could...
It was overcast and raining on the drive to the trail head, but Sunday was the only day I could go. It was barely sprinkling when I starting out from the parking lot, and hike for several hours with only sporadic rain. About 2 hours up the trail there was snow on trail, and the rain came down a bit harder. I followed boot prints that had been made the day before (no other cars in the parking lot), and in spite of no views, I enjoyed the wintery weather and many animal prints in the snow. I only wish I knew what they were! Of course the deer prints were identifiable, and some were obviously bird tracks, but thats all I know. The weather was a bit dramatic (wet and windy), but enjoyed being out in the wilderness and am looking forward to doing this hike when there is a view!
Church Mountain
— Oct 27, 2011
— McDawg
Day hike
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A lovely day, sunny, 50 some degrees at the trailhead. Started late so I went after the closest trailhead (to...
A lovely day, sunny, 50 some degrees at the trailhead. Started late so I went after the closest trailhead (to Big Lake) I could think of. Although I attempted this a couple of years ago I didn't complete the mission and had been aching to try again since.
I jetted up there forgetting that this hike requires a 3750 foot elevation gain in 4 plus miles with a high of 6100 feet...I brought my old ice axe but wasn't sure what type of snow conditions I would be getting into. It turned out gaiters and snowshoes and and crampons were unnecessary as I never had to tromp through more than six inches of snow and just a smatter of 3 to 4 inches to deal with on the scramble at the top. Fantastic views but very cold with a biting wind, plus a concern about getting down before dark allowed me only 15 glorious minutes at the LO site...will return soon... I took some pics but the pre hike rush left me with only cell... Very well maintained trail...made it easy to gte down in the lowlight conditions....17 long switchbacks...
Church Mountain
— Aug 13, 2011
— born2run74
Day hike
Issues:
Snow on trail
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2hrs to the summit, 1hr to the meadows. The meadows still have signficant snow in them, maybe about 1...
2hrs to the summit, 1hr to the meadows. The meadows still have signficant snow in them, maybe about 1 to 3 feet. There were a couple of dangerous snow bridges that if you fell through into the creek below, would result in broken ankles or legs. I elected to scramble up heather slopes to go around them. Be careful there...
Reached the summit, which is snow free. Bugs were not a problem. I counted 18 long switchbacks from the parking area until you reach the meadows. Only about 15 other hikers on this one; needs a couple more weeks for the snow to melt down some more in the meadows. |
Towering trees on the way up to Church Mountain. Photo by Alain Towner.
2011
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