We camped on Friday night on the Railroad Grade trail and managed to snag an epic spot with a great view of Baker. We explored the ridge line up towards base camp in the afternoon and went to the Park Butte Lookout in the evening. There is an easily marked water source on Railroad Grade and there is a small stream crossing on the way to the lookout, so plenty of water access.

What a gorgeous day outside! Arrived around 830am and snagged one of the last parking spots. The forest road to the trailhead unfortunately has many potholes -- some of these fairly large -- and most of these are difficult to see due to shadows from the light filtering through the trees. A high clearance vehicle is recommended, but it is possible to make it in a sedan if driving very slowly. 

There are toilets at the trailhead and blue bags that you can grab at the trailhead in case you forgot your wag bag. Please please pack out all of your waste! 

The trail itself is gently graded in the beginning and winds through the forest. There are a few creek crossings -- most are shallow but one involved quite a bit of rock hopping and a search for the best place to cross. Your feet might get wet given the height of the water. Would recommend using poles. We did not change into water crossing shoes. After the largest water crossing, look for the pink bands tied to the trees to find the trail again. 

The route is snow free until a bit past the Park Butte/Railroad Grade junction. There are a few snowfields to cross. Given that this area is very exposed to the sun and it was a warm day, the snow was fairly slushy. We did not use microspikes (and neither did the other folks we saw on the trail). Be careful of snow bridges. It is helpful to keep left and to try to step on the rocks whenever possible. However, perhaps these are melted out by now. Poles again are helpful here! 

As you climb uphill, take the time to stop and look around. There are many wildflowers in bloom and IMAX-like views of Mount Baker from multiple vantage points. The fire lookout has sweeping views of the area, and we met a few folks there who spent the night. (FYI - There's a sign on the trail that the lookout will be undergoing maintenance on 8/16-8/17 and closed to overnight use on those days. If it's rainy, this will be rescheduled 9/6-9/7. Contact the Skagit Alpine Club for details). 

We retraced our steps after lunch and ventured up the Railroad Grade Trail. It's a stunning ridge walk on the way up to the Easton Glacier. On the way up there are multiple campsites tucked into the trees and a small trail that leads to a water source. Would love to return to camp here! 

Hiked Railroad Grade to the base of the Easton Glacier climbing route which is always spectacular. Clocked in 8 miles and 2600 feet of elevation gain. Lots of climbers about with handfuls of day hikers on this Tuesday.

Road: The road to the trailhead is 9 miles long, with a lot of potholes in places, a few absolute craters that might be harder to manage in a low clearance vehicle.  Glad we have a truck. 

Creeks: The rocky creek is quite high at this time, even with the bridge installed there were two additional small creek crossings that involved using rocks to cross and manged not to get to wet. The suspension bridge is yet to be installed on the Scott Paul Trail. 

Snow: The trail is snow free until the Park Butte/Railroad Grade junction, with the route up railroad grade completely snow free until the Sandy Camp at 6000'. Some small patches of snow remain off trail. From a glance the Park Butte Trail has intermittent snow patches/fields which appear to be mostly in level areas. Cannot speak for how they are to cross. The Scott Paul Trail also appears to have snowfields on upper portions.  Snow is melting very fast and could be off these trails within days from now. 

Trail is great easy snow to cross near top. Got spooked by a bear growling after crossing the last glacier runoff on the way down. Decided to wait for another group w bear spray and it growled at us again. Never saw it only heard it pretty spooky. Bring bear spray I guess. Gorgeous views otherwise even though Baker was mostly clouded in.

Had a great beautiful day hike to the fire lookout and back. The weather was amazing, and we saw a good number of people on trail, mostly groups summiting Mt Baker, but also some day hikers like us, and people with dogs and kids ages 7ish-14ish.

The trail was easy going (or, as easy as 2,200 feet of elevation gets), with very well maintained trails, and a gradual incline that never felt sketchy. Two creek crossings - the first required some leapfrogging from stone to stone (or being ok with wet shoes), and the other had a newly-built bridge which was very helpful. Be mindful of the water level - what you see in the morning will increase by afternoon as more snow melts off! 

At the last mile and a half, the terrain changed to be totally snow-covered. The snow is mushy and slippery because it's actively melting, and I don't think spikes would have helped, but poles might have. It was a slog to go up, but the way down was pretty easy (you can slide down on your butt if you are so inclined). I think a few more weeks of weather like this and the snow should be gone. One piece of advice here is to bring sunglasses - the glare off the white snow in the midday sun was a lot, and gave me a bit of a headache by the end of it.

Once you reach the lookout, the views are amazing, and we spent a while having lunch and hanging out. All in all, a great hike. It's fairly physically intensive, but the reward is 10000% worth it!