Park Butte
Oct 03, 2009
by
University Congregational Hikers
—
last modified
Oct 05, 2009 12:07 PM
- Type of Outing
- Day hike
- Read More in our Hiking Guide
- Hike: Park Butte
- Region: North Cascades -- West Slope
- Agency: Mount Baker - Snoqualmie National Forest, Mount Baker Ranger District
- Trails: Park Butte (#603)
- Avg Rating: 4.26
- Why You Should Go Now
- Fall foliage
- Ripe berries
- Be Aware Of
- Snow on trail
On Saturday, the first traces of snow appeared at about 4300' on this trail. At the junction with Railroad Grade trail (about 4650'), Morovitz Meadow was thinly snow-covered. By the time we got to the Park Butte Lookout, there was perhaps 4"-6" on the ground. Snow had drifted somewhat, so there were a few isolated spots on the way up where snow was perhaps a foot-and-a-half deep - none of these sink-in sections lasted for more than 10-20 yards, so the trail was quite passable.
We had the lookout house to ourselves through lunchtime, but we met lots of people heading up as we descended - including quite a few who were hoping to spend the night in the lookout house - perhaps the first of them would have arrived about 2:30 or 3:00 PM.
There were a few clouds, which obscured parts of Baker and/or the Black Buttes much of the time, but now and then the clouds would dissipate and the whole mountain would emerge in its full white glory.
One of the nice things about doing this hike on a cold October day after a cold spell is that the outflow stream from Easton Glacier (which must be forded) was the lowest I've ever seen - perhaps 2" deep at its deepest!
A few berries survived, but likely not much longer.
We had the lookout house to ourselves through lunchtime, but we met lots of people heading up as we descended - including quite a few who were hoping to spend the night in the lookout house - perhaps the first of them would have arrived about 2:30 or 3:00 PM.
There were a few clouds, which obscured parts of Baker and/or the Black Buttes much of the time, but now and then the clouds would dissipate and the whole mountain would emerge in its full white glory.
One of the nice things about doing this hike on a cold October day after a cold spell is that the outflow stream from Easton Glacier (which must be forded) was the lowest I've ever seen - perhaps 2" deep at its deepest!
A few berries survived, but likely not much longer.
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