Trip Reports

Fantastic visibility after several prior days of rain. Medium level of traffic on the trail including one pair of horses. Wooded section of trail was in great shape (but wet and slippery on the way down in the afternoon).

High meadows in full bloom and highly fragrant. Had some great relaxing time (despite the bugs) in sun on the high meadow before heading along the ridge towards Baker.

Even the higher rocky ridge sections of the trail were snow free as we continued about 3/4 mile past the split going upwards on the ridge rather than down.

A great day hike that made us wish we had come prepared to stay overnight.

Yes, I was the chowder head headed to Chowder Ridge with a full pack in the furnace-like heat on Saturday afternoon. Having camped Friday night at Yellow Aster Butte, it took some time to hike down to my car, find Glacier Peak Road (#39) and the quick left turn onto the twelve mile uphill road (#37) to the crowded Skyline Trail parking lot. My biggest fear had been finding the last safe parking space, but the 1 pm heat slapped me into worrying about something else. Fortunately, almost all of the couple of hundred day-hikers, and five or six groups of backpackers were ahead of me, so only a few people had to wait for the dotted lines to pass by my slowly moving butt. Within minutes, I found a shocking flaw in the special theory of relativity: at high temperatures, time doesn’t speed up when you slow down, it crawls to a stop. Moreover, observers from every perspective confirm that it took me almost forever to get to the ridge. After that, the views almost made me forget about time: meadowlands filled with lupine and valerian, Baker, Shuksan, Nooksack Ridge, and the Skagit Range. People were almost as plentiful as flowers, and mosquitos outnumbered them all, but the scenery drew me on to a tent site just before the unmarked split, where the trail to Chowder Basin skirts left, and the less obvious path up Skyline Ridge towards Chowder Ridge climbs steeply up.

After setting up my tent, downing tons of water, and collecting liters of snow, I thought I might be prepared for a late afternoon meander to the Skyline Trail’s end at Chowder Ridge. The first half mile was marked by bursts of downward day-hikers. After that it was the occasional whoosh of heat-dazed grouse, rock and tundra, one tent at the base of the step up to Chowder Ridge, and expansive views to Baker and the ridgelines West. Even at six and seven, I cursed the sun for patrolling overtime. At every snow bank, I coated my arms, legs, head and neck with snow. Eventually, the heat receded like the tide, and hints of breezes felt as though they were treasures uncovered at the beach.

Back at my tent, I counted seven camps spread along the ridge, and thousands of mosquitos searching for an angry fix. DEET and daiquiris came to the rescue. At sunset, a local family arrived to take thirty minutes of photos, and one remarked “You can’t buy a view like that.” It seemed uninspired, but as they traipsed out with headlamps in the dark, I realized he was dead on right, and I mentioned as much to the full moon as it rose over Shuksan.

Sunday morning was muggy with sprinkles. I fed the mosquitos as I fed myself, and then trekked down to see what was happening in the world below.

Is Thursday, August 14th a holiday? There were at least 60 people hiking the Skyline Divide Trail today and we all had a great time. The approach road is long but good. The trail was snow free for at least the first 4 miles and the blow-downs have all been cleared. The meadows were filled with flowers and the views were fabulous. (We could even see I-5 heading towards the Canadian Border from our lunch spot.)

A perfect day for this hike. There were some small but very passable snow patches, and some mud in the woods coming back down after it had warmed up and been trampled over. The wildflowers were spectacular up top; lupine, bistort, daisy, penstemon, paintbrush, and many more.

We went all the way to the far point and watched 45 mountain goats, big & little, crossing snow fields over near Hadley while we ate lunch. Very Cute!

The wind was cold, as if it was coming right off Baker, but the sun was warm out of the wind. Lots of clouds over the horizon to the east, but still stunning views way into the North Cascades, and of course you are right there by Baker and Mt. Shuksan.

There were some bugs later in the afternoon when the breeze slowed down, but not bad.

A classic hike, highly recommended.

July 17,2008

Trail is snow free to about one half mile of the ridge. Many blow downs across trail. It is not to hard to follow the trail as you can find it off and on during that last half mile. (Although three young people, who were not prepared to do so, spent the night out there. They had lost the trail and wandered about lost until too late to get out. The Whatcom County Search and Rescue found them about 8AM the next morning.) Still lots of snow on the ridge, but it did not stop us from going all the way to point 6563'.

The road to the Skyline divide is in good shape except for the usual chuckholes. We ran into snow patches at the 3,900 foot level. Some were 2 -3 foot deep. A large tree blocked the road about a mile from the parking area and we walked the rest of the way. Right at the beginning of the trail there was a lot of snow but it was not hard to find the trail. About 70% of the trail is bare. There were some windfalls. I turned back at the 4,900 foot level because of time constraint but I think I could have made it to the Skyline Divide without any great problems.

Despite this being a familiar place, plenty of dragons roared to keep it interesting. This ridge is austere and very exposed; nothing but “… disaster camps in a storm” as Ira Spring & Harvey Manning declare. Also, passage from Skyline Divide to Chowder Ridge involves a scramble on narrow catwalks of rock, requiring attentive steps.

On Friday we were beckoned from fog shrouded lowlands into crystal blue and sunshiny ridges. Chowder is slanted meadow that terminates in a scarp of rock and ice; it has an “edge of the world” feel. We threw down our bags on the edge of this meadow and called it home. It has a front-row seat to Kulshan’s blue-block icy massif. Climber’s camps blinked to life around 4am Saturday. We spied their progress through the glacial puzzle. Our water was obtained by robbing the retreating Hadley Glacier of snow. The days and nights were clear while tidal Puget vapors surged and retreated below. All was well until stratus inundated our ridge camp 6am on Sunday, denying us a final sunrise. No complaints though; we feasted on the cosmic show of planets, stars, meteors, and a sliver of a moon both nights.

We explored the ridge toward Hadley Peak during the day, walking on a convenient but narrow goat path carved into the grassy slope. A herd of these incidental engineers, 17 total, roamed the raw areas below the ridge. At one point we accidentally intercepted their climb to the ridge up a steep gully. I felt badly as they charged straight down, discharging volumes of rock before them. Fortunately none were injured in the flight. Our decision to forego a summit of Hadley was to be fortunate since the herd decided to flank us further along on the ridge. Powerful as they are; they did not need to be harried further by our exploration. A lone goat day-bedding in the talus below camp contrasted with the others; it did not look so spry and cared little of our curiosity; perhaps just feeling its age. It started to drizzle about 11am an hour after departing on Sunday. Kristine was thrilled to see a large black bear; it was in a lower meadow below the skyline Divide trail.

We got a little moist, but it could not dampen our sunny spirits. Always older, sometimes wiser, I look forward to the next challenge; the next mysterious spot on the map, where treasure (usually) awaits.

FS road open! And despite some blowdown obstructing the lower trail, the meadows and ridge walks are clear and sure to set you to humming The Sound of Music.

One mile of rooty forest climb, the next mile with occasional meadow breaks, then the sky opens up to miles of mountains all around, Baker looming in the foreground. The trail dips, rises, circles around hills, offers diversionary sidetrips to a few hillcrests, and eventually pulls you up to a dry table that is a popular stop. For a few more calories, take the right angle turn and head straight ahead to Baker for quieter contemplation of glaciers and goats.

One shiny black bear was visible in a lower meadow, but too busy mowing to bother with stinky hikers.

The road is potholed early on, but okay for cautious generic cars. Few bugs, but not much left to buzz about other than lupine, bistort, asters, and buckwheat. BYOBerries, little left for popular consumption. No water. Go anyway.

Cheers!

Good news. The road to the Skyline Divide is finally open after roads repairs from the winter 06 storms. There are still over a dozen tree falls across the trail which you go over, under or around. But a clearing crew is supposed to start soon. The weather was great but I started late, around 12:15pm. After an hour in the woods where some humongous mushrooms were growing, I finally emerged unto the Skyline ridge. The views of Mt Baker, the meadows and Canadian peaks were tremendous! Had a late lunch on the 'knoll' were you can get great photographs and almost a 360deg view. Most people consider this the end of the trail but I continued on as the views get better. Unless you intend to camp or go down to Chowder Basin, bring you own water as there is no water on this trail. Got the top of ridge around 4:30pm and the trail end was about 1/2hr or more away but too tired to continue and need to get back before sunset; but took some great pics of the panorama views. Back at the parking lot by 7:30pm. See http://picasaweb.google.com/steve.d.podleski/2007SkylineDivideHike for some pics of the hike

This was my THIRD attempt at hiking Skyline Divide. On 2 previous attempts Mount Baker became swallowed in clouds literally just as I broke above tree line. This time the sky was clear as a bell and I was not to be denied.

Things got off to a bad start however. An accident on I-5 somewhere near Bellingham had traffic backed up past the Alger exit. I lost 30 minutes sitting in stop & go before reaching the next exit 2 miles past Alger. I had a map but it was the entire state so the needed level of detail for negotiating a maze of little country roads was lacking. I ended up going in a complete circle and ended up right back at the spot where I exited I-5. I then took I-5 south all the way back to exit 232 tried to find HWY 9 again and got lost again. Then tried one more time and finally punched through. So, I ended up beating the traffic jam by taking HWY 9 up to HWY 542 to get to the trailhead, but lost about an hour in the process.

Finally after 4 hours of driving I made it to the trailhead at exactly 7pm. This gave me about an hour to dash up to the ridge to catch the sunset on Mount Baker. Woo hoo after 2 failed attempts I'm finally going to experience Skyline Divide! I got about 10 minutes up the trail only to have a sudden thought - oh no did I put the battery back in the camera? I got a new camera this year and the battery must be charged externally. I nervously opened my pack, opened the camera bag, opened the battery compartment and ... ARRRGGGHHHHH NO BATTERY !!!!

Beaten down by Skyline Divide AGAIN!!! You see, I care a lot more about photography than about going for a hike. Without a camera I'd much rather do it some other time. So I had no choice but to go home. I turned around and stormed back to my car. I nearly spun off the forest road twice speeding back down a very long 13 miles to the highway in total disgust. I watched a perfect sunset while driving down the road past a trailer park here and a casino there and just had to suck it up.

My first effort on the trail. The Skyline trail does not care about the little touches of civilization, like switchbacks, until you are almost to the top. The trail starts in forest and only opens up near the top. Peak flowers are only in the meadows as you near the top. Once you are at the ridgeline there is a lovely view of Shucksan (if you have a cloudless day.) Follow the up and down trail S to views of Baker (on more cloudless days that I had.) Still a few Glacier lilies struggling to bloom (Yes we know its August,) some wild strawberry, white paintbrush, and phlox on the ridgeline. Valaria various yellow composits, corn lilies, lupine, and bistort on the west facing meadows.

Trail was a little damp and the ever-present roots were a little slidy on the way down.

Lovely partly cloudy day, crowded trail, now open to the occasional llama etc.

A beautiful hike with incredible views of Baker and a great place to fall asleep in the sun.

Not much to add to two prior reports except that we were utterly disappointed by this year's flower show. Too early or a bad year? Go figure. The thirten miles' road trip on the very dusty FR 39 requires a mandatory carwash afterwards. A forest crew was in the process of installing a new toilet at the trailhead. This is a busy trail even during the week, with the views on top no great surprise. One hike to scratch of our to-do-list. Bugs not a problem on top of the ridge. Temperature at 79. One blow-down to get around.

I was going to hike Copper ridge to Copper Lake, but with the heat and border delays, I didnt get to Glacier until 10 am. This was to late for a 12 hour hike, So I decided to hike Skyline divide instead.

The hike from the start to the ridge is about 45 min. From the ridge you get great views. I hike along the ridge over several small peaks towards Mount Baker. Chowder ridge is the last ridge you come too. It has a climbers path up the ridge. I elected to scamble up the snow. Once on top of the ridge you regain the trail around the back of some outcrops. This is the only trick part of the trail. I followed the ridge onto mount baker until I hit a glacier. Lot of flowers out on the Chowder ridge. Total milage: 12 miles 9 hours.

I had not been on this trail in the past three years, since before the Oct floods of 2003, and was in for a treat today! With some very high clouds, temperatures were quite comfortable; wildflowers were beginning to show; and the mountains were glorious. Trail was mostly dry and in very good condition. A bit of snow remains in places at/above saddle. No bugs!

A great hike. Still patches of solid snow, but green meadows with lots of flowers. Incredible views and a must do hike. You can add another 2-4 miles on the ridge and the snow patches do not make it harder, if anything it is easier with the snow.

The washed out bridge has been replaced, with an easy drive to the trailhead. No snow on the road. Started running into patchy snow about half way up the trail. The ridge itself is about 75% covered with firm snow. Just a fantastic hike, with amazing views.

This is a beautiful ridge hike, even on a cloudy day. Our hope was to set up camp on Saturday in Chowder Basin, and then continue to Hadley Peak. But since the clouds never lifted, and it got foggy, we stopped 2 miles before the summit and returned to camp. This trip starts on the Skyline Divide trail. About 2.5 miles in there is a grassy knoll on the left with a great, but dry, campsite. A little furter is another nice site on the ridge, but it is also dry. You reach the end of the maintained trail in 3.5 miles. The left fork is very well used, and leads to Chowder Basin. There is one nice, established site here, with running water. The right fork climbs a short, steep rocky section to attain the ridge. We continued for another 1.5 miles where there is a tarn and a flat area to camp. (Peggy Goldman's GPS pt. #3). We will definitely return in better weather and continue on Chowder Ridge all the way to Hadley Peak.

The view from the top is approaching peak fall color. Probably another week or two will do the trick. In addition to the changing foliage, there were even a few lingering wildflowers. Small, purple bell-like clusters. Don't rush your time along the ridge, but take time to enjoy the culmination of your hard work...even if clouds obscure Baker and other nearby peaks. Do wear hiking boots...the trail through the forest is muddy and downright slick. Trekking poles will help you maintain balance in the slick spots. Also, big plaudits to the Forest Service personnel. They were hard at work doing what they could to improve the trail. Also, thanks to each and every dog owner I passed. They kept their dogs under control and cleaned up after them when they answered nature's call (the dogs, that is). Granted, not all dogs (or owners) are as well behaved, but experience has taught me that the whining about dogs on trails is generally undeserved.

With demands of a remodel and the unfavorable weather patterns as of late, I had planned to take some time off to chase the sun. Well, the mountains had something else in mind.

I decided to re-visit a local favorite that has recently been liberated from road closure. It had been 6 years since I had been up Skyline Divide. At 4400’ it has one of the highest trailheads in the Nooksack drainage, but don’t expect cakewalk travel. Once this trail attains the dragon-tail ridge it burns through another 1000’ of elevation gain and loss to the end at Chowder Ridge. Consolation can be found in a tundra-like open feel and continuous views. The latter part of the trail has an intimate tread, gently coaxed into the landscaped instead of being imposed. Judging by the scat, it is traveled more by mountain goats and coyotes than people.

The forecast “partly cloudy” never materialized on Saturday leaving me to contemplate majestic old-growth, or the trailside blush of blueberry against green heather in the fog. The final scramble to Chowder Ridge is a bit sketchy with a full pack but fine with proper care and snow-free conditions. I had planned to stay on the austere ridge and tipple from the retreating Hadley Glacier, while gazing upon Kulshan in warm sunshine, but reality convinced me otherwise. Chowder is far too exposed for foul weather, and the voluminous Puget vapors were less than reassuring.

I retreated to the headwaters of Deadhorse Creek where I could lie in thick grasses in relative shelter. This was to be a fortunate choice; rain and wind began by 5p. Low down to 26 degrees. The morning was astoundingly clear, almost enough to make me a believer. But the cloud machine kicked in and all vistas were closed by 10a. I was packed and hiking out by 12. During my brief stay I did enjoy watching many Ptarmigans, half whitened, foraging for whatever mountain chickens eat, and a couple of fat coyotes foraging for mountain chicken.

In the end I decided that work, or painting the house was more appealing than being tent-bound with a wet hound. Han Shan says, “Travelers ask the way to Cold Mountain. Cold Mountain: there’s no through trail.” I think I understand now.

Skyline Divide would be a spectacular hike in clear weather. Unfortunately, the Pacific Northwest fog descended to about 6,000 feet by 10 a.m. Since I prefer not to hike alone in the fog near timberline, I turned around at 6,300 feet which was significantly short of my goal of reaching Chowder Ridge. The views would have been superb.

The trail is in good condition, especially for the first 1,500 feet of elevation gain in the trees. The 13 mile approach road is driveable in an ordinary vehicle provided the driver is not too intimidated. The washed out bridge has been only recently been replaced.

This was my second attempt at this hike and once again Mount Baker seemed to become completely encased in clouds just as I broke above treeline onto the ridge. I saw Baker while driving through Glacier on 542, and again on the drive home, but not at all in between. Furthermore this seemed to be the only substantial cloud cover in the North Cascades area - any other hike would have been a better choice. For me this is par the course this summer - bar far the worst for photography that I've had in 7 years of hiking in the Cascades & Olympics. I blame the lack of snowfall over the winter and some bad luck like I had today.

As for good news there was a horde of plump, sweet blueberries in Chowder Basin, the best wild blueberries I've ever had. I also saw a herd of 16 mountain goats scale a gravelly cliff on Chowder Ridge like they were walking up a staircase. Very cool.

The newly reopened road to the trailhead seemed long (about 14 miles)and steep, but more likely I'd driven too many miles on similar roads in the previous few days. The trail starts in lovely forest climbing 1400 feet in about 2 miles to open out onto a lovely, grass covered ridge top with knock your sox off views of Baker, Shuksan, American Border peaks and more. It was a lovely, sunny day with just about the right amount of sun. Definitely a day for lying around on lunch box knoll after a very satisfying wander along the ridgetop. When we returned to the very full, hot parking lot, we were glad we'd had an early morning start. Plenty of huckleberries, virtually no bugs, one detourable tree across the trail. This was a really great hike with maximum rewards for very little effort.

Thursday, July 29th - We set out today to hike the Skyline Divide Trail on Mt. Baker and now I know why there was not a single report for 2004 on the WTA site. The road to the TH is closed for bridge repair. Now you know also. Hiked Excelsior Pass/Mountain instead.

No problem with the drive to the trail head, road was in great shape, as was the trail. It never stoped raining and we had low cloud cover, in other words, we did it to get out of the day to day BS. If your thinking it sounded cold you should try the new 4 ply Gore-tex, 3 layer scholer, 950 down filled full body suit. It's called the ""Polar Bear"" by Mountain Hardware.

Another fantastic hike. The meadows along the way and at the divide were blooming like crazy with wildflowers. The trail is in great shape and the views are surely the finest the North Cascades has to offer. My 5 year old was in awe and could not get enough. ("" Daddy,that mountain is really BIG!"") He gave it 2 big thumbs up. The trails beyond the divide were in great shape and clear as far as you can see, toward Hadley Peak. Lots of bugs on the trail, but not many in the divide. Note for you overnighters, there was no water and very little snow that was easily accessable near the divide.

A group from WNPS headed up to skyline divide to see what was growing on a beautiful monday. Still lots of folks up there. The trail is great and short - two miles or so to the meadows and about 1500'. What a bang for the buck! The meadows glow blue, white and gold with lupine, bistort, valerian and potentilla. Awesome views everyway. We could see the smoke from the Colville fire. The only downside was the zillions of bugs everywhere, especially in the woods, but in the meadows too. Fortunately, they didn't bite much but bring the bug juice. Highly recommended for colors and views.

Great rewards for such a short hike. John and I ditched the rest of our tournament playing soccer buddies to preserve our injured legs for next week's hike on the Wonderland trail. Instead, we headed here for flowers and views. We weren't disappointed. After a 2 mile climb through the trees, we hit the meadows and the views, which expanded with every step. We got to a sidetrail, dropped our daypacks, and wandered to the left through fields of flowers. Lots of lupine, some paintbrush (both white and Indian), and tons of other flowers whose names I can't remember. We got back on the main trail kept going to the very end (another 2 miles or so) to Chowder Basin. Sat by a nice waterfall and shared our lunch with about 1 million black flies and mosquitoes.

We did not climb the ridge above Chowder Basin because we missed the trail on the way in. For those looking for it, go right at the confusing intersection at the start of the ridge and scramble into the trees -- it apparently starts there. We did hit the knoll on the way back, however. The views were tremendous.

Funny thing about this hike is that we had no idea that our first stopping point was actually Skyline Ridge. It was so short, we just assumed that we couldn't possibly be there so quickly. The nice thing was that there were plenty of places to wander!

Skyline Divide is a wonderful hike for views, flowers and birds. The flowers are just starting. Lots of phlox in bloom, valerian, outrageously brilliantly orange paintbrush in rocks, some lupine, some glacier lily's, yellow, white and pink heather, veronica, bistort, willow-herb, partridge foot, lousewort, penstemon, saxifrage, 5-leaved bramble, wild strawberry, queens cup, and more that I've forgotten. The avalanche lily's were over.

Our lunch break turned out to be next to the ""bird condo"". Hard to tell who all lived in that mass of low bushes and trees, but American Pipits, juncos were there for sure. Also saw rufous hummers and some undefined finches. I think I saw a yellow rumped warbler and rosy finches. We did pass a grouse (spruce? tame, or ruffed? - gray form at altitude with a slightly ruffled head.) with one adorable little baby.

Saw just one healthy looking marmot that didn’t let us get close like the ones at Mt Rainier.

Took my mom up the Skyline Divide today. Snow at 1.7 ish miles, just before you get to the ridge. The trail begins 12 miles up fire road 37 in beautiful, lush forest. The trail, an easily graded one, climbs steadily to the ridge, twice passing through meadows of green grass and wildflowers before switching back onto the ridge, where the views of Baker and Shuksan are i'm sure phenominal. Only, today, they were clouded over and not too visible. Oh well, the great lunch we packed was well worth the hike up and the meadow, which will be absolutely packed with wildflowers here in a couple of weeks, was beautiful. Glad to be away from the crowds on the fourth!

With the great weather, we carried skis and overnight packs up to Skyline Divide on the north side of Mt. Baker Sat/Sun for some views, touring and tele turns. On Saturday afternoon when we left the trailhead you could drive to within about 1/4 mile of the official trailhead at 4400 feet, 12 miles up a gravel road from the Mt. Baker highway. By Sunday at about 5:30 when we got back you could drive right to the trailhead. Trail is in good shape with one major tree about 1/2 mile in that you could crawl under without your pack.

Snow starts about 4/5 of the way up the wooded roughly 2 mile trail to the ridge trail. A lot of people have booted up so it's pretty obvious where the trail is although it would be possible to lose track if you weren't paying attention. One of the great things about this trail is the element of surprise - when you pop out onto Skyline Divide at a bout 5800 feet on a broad meadow/snowfield, the views are unbelievable - in all directions. We found a nice tent site in the snow and watched the sunset over Puget Sound, the alpenglow on Mt Baker, the sisters, (Mt. Shuksan incredible view of that!), Ruth, Topmyhoi, Hadley Glacier, and everything in between. Next day toured out the ridge a few more miles. Snow is thinning on south slopes.

With a trip into the Enchantments coming up quick, I decided I best get out and test the ligaments in my ankle which I tore in July.

But firt, a warning:

I fell victom to car vandals, as many other overnight hikers did at the TH. I got lucky with minimal damage, but others did not. A car from B.C. not only got broken into, but every single window smashed, tires flattened, the hood popped and the engine department completely vandalized, etc. There was no way they would be driving home after what I'm sure they assumed would be a relaxing backpack in our beloved wilderness. I was disgusted, as many others were.

Between two rangers, I learned that this particular TH has witnessed vandalism the past 3 weekends in a row. The Heliotrope Ridge TH has been experiencing this twice a week on average. Also unsafe are the Hannegan Pass and Canyon Creek TH. Beware.

The good news? The county sherrif's office is now taking advanced action (I am not at liberty to disclose and neither should you be until they are caught) against these perpetrators.

With that said, this was an incredible hike with fall colors just begining to show themselves. I suspect we are on our ""October 10th"" schedule for the climax, as coined by another contributor. The sunsets from this vantage are a photographer's delight, and highly recommended to the non-toting camera enthusiast as well.

Pics will be posted soon at http://www.mountainscenes.com

Don Geyer

No snow at all unless you get above 6500 feet or so (near what looks like the end of established trail of the upper branch). We didn't go quite that high but could see that you'd have clear sailing until you were really on the body of Chowder Ridge proper. Trail is in great shape. Many people up here on a sort-of sunny weekend, the views were often clouded up but still had enough to see and do. Excellent flower meadows on the sections just before cresting the ridge at about 2 mi.

Saturday was a fabulous day for the trail. Visibility was very good though it was a bit hot. Bring lots of water because we only crossed one small creek along the way. If you are hiking with your dog, be sure to have plenty for them to drink too. My pup drank 1/2 a quart of water, licked every puddle we passed and took a nap on a patch of snow! (And he's a little guy-so that is nearly double what he would normally consume.) Bugs were definately an issue. Bring a lightweight long sleeve shirt, wear pants, and a hat. I found that a bandanna was handy too for waving the flying monsters away. Oh and watch out for a small bee's nest that is in the ground at the side of the trail. The nest is probably 3/4 of a mile past the only creek you will cross if you continue hiking the ridge toward Baker. The trail will start to get very brushy and the nest is in that area. Just watch your step. If you push on through, they don't seem to be too aggressive. They are small bees - not yellow jackets. However, my dog stopped walking right next to the nest and got a stinger in his snout.

Other than bugs, the trail is incredible. The first mile or so is a bit steep, but it levels off once you reach the ridge. From there the views are superlative. Mt. Baker, Shuksan, Larabee and the Border peaks were all visible. There are still patches of snow in the area, but they are small and easily crossed. Wildflowers are in abundance. This trail definately is in my top 10!

Trail is in good shape, but a bit muddy in places. Just a few small snowpatches rapidly melting. Bugs did not seem to be a problem. Meadow flowers just beginning to bloom. Chowder Ridge over to Hadley Peak is almost entirely snowfree. Camped Wednesday night in cold, windy fog, but awoke to blue skies and fabulous views Thursday. Saw no one on our trek to Hadley and back to camp. About 15-20 cars (all day hikers) at trailhead on Wednesday at 2 p. m. Six cars on Thursday at 6 p. m.

Trail in pretty good condition, bit of mud, no snow to speak of until reaching the ridge at 5900 ft. 3 1/2 and 4 1/2 year olds were able to walk it comfortably, aided by steady supply of m&ms. Bugs were active but were kept at bay by deet. Beautiful flowers. Found nice snow-free site next to snowfield, spent the rest of sat waiting for the fog to lift, and were rewarded with beautiful sunset and to-die-for views of baker and shuksan. hiked out in drizzle the next morning.

Last week we tried skiing here, which was a bit silly, though we did get a few short runs in. Given the great weather we opted for a re-match, this time with hiking boots. There were a lot more cars this week, though it seems that nearly everyone stops at the first viewpoint, so the hike out the Divide was quite peaceful. The views get better and better along the ridge, and the trail's twists and turns serve up many great views during the hike.

There is plenty of lingering snow, but we found that our ice axes just added a little unnecessary ""training weight"" as there were no exposed traverses or anything like that. The flies are busy enjoying the view along with the few hikers who wander out the ridge.

There are glacier lillies everywhere, the heather is blooming, and the lupine is starting to come out.

We followed the Divide to the southern high point, and then turned left for a short bit along the ridge that continues toward Baker. We found fields of red paintbrush where this ridge starts to drop down to an alpine meadow area just before Chowder Ridge. WOW!

Kris and I hiked this excellent trail through forest to high meadows and a view of Mt. Baker. The trail and the countryside are in great shape, but our big adventure for the day was in returning to the parking lot to find a flat tire. No problem, we'll put on the spare. We have a locking nut and three regular nuts on the tire. When removing the locking nut, the outer portion broke into several shards. This was using a standard jack in the prescribed way. We were now helpless, and just as we negotiated the $150.00 fee for a wrecker to come from Bellingham and tow the car, someone had a can of instant air we could fill the tire with. Thank goodness! We made it home, and right now Les Schwab is banging away at the nut (a several-hour job apparently). Keep this in mind! Thanks to the wonderful people who helped us out with a cell phone, and the air!

We had originally planned on a camping trip this weekend but with all the wild fires, bug reports and a shaky forecast we decided to stick with a day hike. This trail is a real charmer, it’s short, relatively easy and very scenic. It’s the kind of trail that you would bring along a friend or family member so you introduce them to the wonders of hiking.

I brought my sister and her asthmatic boyfriend here back in 1998. We got off to a late start and had to contend with relentless swarms of black flies and mosquitoes. We literally ran up the trail non-stop, as any break in our forward motion would result in ingesting a dozen of the nasty pests. We had bug spray but we quickly discovered that the can was virtually exhausted. When we finally reached the ridge we were physically spent and very itchy. The view was incredible but our stay was brief and we hurriedly descended. Needless to say my sister and her boyfriend never went hiking with us again.

Not wanting to repeat that experience we came prepared for battle this time around. We purchased two brand new bottles of bug juice, arrived early and wore long sleeve tops and pants. It all seemed to work as we hiked along at a leisurely pace and were completely unmolested by bugs. We reached the first meadows inside of thirty minutes; we were hot but still unbitten. We took a chance and striped off our outer layer, which also contained most of the repellant. It didn’t make a difference as incredibly there were no bugs!

We reached the ridge in about an hour, the meadows were lush and green but the mountains were nowhere to be seen. It was one of those partly cloudy days where the clouds are obscuring all the wrong parts. We saw only one other person and they quickly headed down the ridge away from Baker, we went in the opposite direction. We climbed over the first knoll then skirted passed the second whose summit is the turn around point for most day hikers.

At this point the trail splits with one leg riding the top of the ridge and the other slicing across the slope. Since it didn’t look like there would be much of a view we choose to stay low and explore Chowder Basin. We were soon rewarded as we noticed that the broad heather slopes were alive with numerous marmots. The trail rounded a corner and entered the broad basin which was resplendent with flowers, marmots and backed by a glaciated peak (albeit Mt.Hadley). The trail seemed to go on forever so we just picked a nice grassy spot for lunch and had a little nap.

The clouds never did burn off; in fact they kept pouring in until the ridge itself was obscured. We headed back and upon nearing the second knoll we encountered the hordes. Dozens of people were all packed into a half-mile of trail when ironically marmots and solitude were only a twenty-minute walk away. Upon reaching our vehicle we looked at the trail register to discover that thirty parties had started up after us. Hopefully many of these are just being introduced to hiking and they will learn to spread out. Until then…

Happy Hiking

Beautiful trail. We hiked up 4 1/2 miles to the meeting of Skyline Divide with Chowder Ridge. This was well worth the extra time to keep going to the end. You can continue on past this point, but we chose to stop for a break on a peak and turned around.

The first two miles are forested and very buggy. The black flies and horse flies didn't even notice our bug spray. I would probably invest in extra crazy strength stuff or do this hike at a different time of the season. The next 2 1/2 miles are all on the ridge with fluctuating hills and dips. The flies were still bad, but better with a breeze. The trail itself is in very good shape. Definitely bring sunscreen as there is no shade once on top and lots of water for the same reason. We also found a Green Trails map of Baker helpful in identifying glaciers and neighboring peaks. Good luck!

Two friends and I hiked Skyline today. It is in good shape. The ranger tried to scare us off with the line, ""There is snow up there."" There is snow, but it is not a problem. A great hike, just go early before the snow turns to slush and make it easier on yourself. Other than that, this is an amazing hike that should not be missed, even if you have to brave a little snow.

We stopped at the Glacier Public Service Center and found out that the Chain Lakes Loop still had a lot of snow on it, so opted to do this trail instead. This must be a popular trail, as there were about 20 cars at the trailhead on this sunny Thursday, even though the access road is 13 miles of unpaved road and kinda bumpy at times.

The trail is in great shape, no snow all the way to Skyline Divide, but the big story now is the flowers, which are at or near their peak in the meadows. We hiked up to Point 6563, and sat there an hour soaking up the beautiful views.

Trail is virtually snow-free up to the first bluff. You encounter a bit of snow on your way to Chowder Ridge, but you can easily do it in boots. There had been thunderstorms the night before, but Baker and Shuksan were not obstructed by clouds in the morning. That changed in the afternoon as the cloudy soup that enveloped the lowlands rose to meet us on the way down. Mosquitos were out but controllable. Pictures at http://photos.yahoo.com/keven_elliff

The trail is melting out rapidly, but is still covered with significant snow for final 1 1/2 miles. Route finding required at one spot about 1/2 way up. It took us 1/2 hour to find the trail and later we had to help a couple of lost groups. After that difficult patch we were able to keep contact with the trail, although we did hike over significant snow.

Once we reached the top the divide was fairly clear and very easy to negotiate. The vistas into Mt. Baker, Mt, Shuksan, and the North Cascades N.P. are stunning. We were lucky to hit a particularly clear day and could see easily to Vancouver Island, Canadian coast range, and well into the national park. The wild flower meadows on top are exploding, and the combination made our time on the divide seem like something from a fairy tale.

Clearly this is a very special hike.

Decided the night before to do this hike, having always wanted to & having a few days free to backpack & camp. Previous report(s) mentioned the overall good condition of the access rd., with some patches of potholes especially in the lower/flatter section. Arrived at trailhead 2pm Weds, parking area full (15 cars). Sunny, warm day, my 40+lb. pack burdened with my photo gear & tripod. The trail is in great shape, but climbs moderately, steadily, in forest until you finally begin to break out into small meadows after a couple miles & within another mile reach a wide meadow/ridge which signals the beginning of the Divide--great, expansive views of the N. Cascades, with Shuksan & Baker dominant. I continued another mile or so up and down some humps on the ridge & found a nice camp off the trail in some short trees, with world-class views of the mtns. to the east & Puget lowlands to the west. No running water on the Divide, so made use of a nearby snowfield. There is no snow on the trail--but lots & lots of bugs! Basically had the whole area to myself from late Weds. afternoon until Fri. morning. Thurs. did a dayhike to the 6563'highpoint further along the trail-- Mt. Baker seemed within walking distance, its glacier-clad slopes gleaming in the clear air. Back at camp had a marvelous sunset followed by a wandering mtn.goat walking by in the dark. Saw a couple grouse/quail, marmot, & many osprey/hawks riding the air currents. Woke up Fri. early for some sunrise photos, hit the sack a while longer & then hiked back down to the trailhead, which took me 1 1/4 hrs. (Took me about 2 3/4hrs to hike to my camp [4 mi]. All in all, a must-do trail, with a mandatory campout in decent weather.

We headed to this popular trail during the Labor day weekend and expected a lot of people. It was a cloudy day and there were about 20 cars in the parking lot (by the way, the drive up on the dirt road was long and annoying). We started around 11:50am. The walk in the forest was good. We reached the first ridge around 12:50pm and were very pleased to see the awesome views of Mt. Shuksan and Mt. Baker, the latter mostly in the clouds. There were many other peaks in the distance. The bugs were also delighted to see us and we couldn't sit around for long.

The up and down trail lead to a second ridge, and then to a split - left to a third ridge, already occupied by people with tents. We turned right, enjoyed a nice walk with similar views, and rested on the fourth ridge around 2:40pm. The views were great, including the Puget Sound. The trail continues, but it was getting cold. So we headed down around 3:10pm and reached our car around 4:50pm. Again, this hike is best suited for a sunny week-day.

I just have a few things to add to Meganerd's 8/26 report. The trailhead is 3 hrs from Seattle. When the sun was out, the flies and mosquitos come out in full force. They were bad enough that I had to apply Jungle Juice to my bug suit. The trail is 99.9 % snow free to it's end at 4.5 mi. The views are excellent. It was also fairly crowded. The hot tip is dinner at Milano's in the town of Glacier. This unassuming restaurant has outstanding home made pasta and the most garlicy Caesar salad on earth.