Hannegan Road is closed from Mt. Baker Hwy to cars. It is passable by foot to the end and passable by bike to .5 before the Hannegan Trailhead. You can portage a bike across .2 of avalanche debris and then ride to the trailhead. The Hannegan Pass trail is snow free, except for minor patches to Hannegan Camp. There are 2 large, nasty avalanche debris fields to cross. Hannegan Camp is under snow. There is patchy snow to the pass. The pass is snow free. Copper Ridge Trail to Boundary camp has minor snow patches, and a couple of large avalanche debris areas. These are all easily crossable. Boundary camp is buried beneath avanlanche debris/snow. The bear locker is the primary way you'll know when you've reached the camp, since everything else is buried. Chilliwack trail junction was also buried and not obvious. Copper Ridge trail from Boundary Camp to 1.5 mi before the Egg Lake junction is clear and easily hiked. There is snow in most of the gullys. Some steep, be prepared to kick steps and have a way to stop if you fall (ice axe/trekking pole). There are a few downed trees, eroded sections of trail. After attaining the ridge proper you can only go a short distance before the entire ridge is buried in snow (north, south sides and top).

The waterfalls are dancing, and black bears still roaming the alder thickets. several gnarly avalanche debris fields cover the road ( which will be closed for repairs starting June 22nd 2009 till late August), and the trail . In the first mile avalanche chutes cover the trail with pulverized trees, mud, debris and snow. the trail is passable with patience, and still beautiful.

I thought I'd take a day off work and 'trot up' Mt Ruth. The Hannegan Pass trailhead is up a four mile road off the Mt. Baker highway, and that road is blocked. You can mountain bike the first mile or so, up to the Goat Mtn trailhead, but from there it's snowshoe or ski conditions. There are about a dozen avalanches across the road near the trailhead, including several that are serious -- logs, rocks, dirt, and so. It's going to be at least six weeks before you'll be able to drive to the trailhead, even without all the debris. There was one set of snowshoe prints heading up the valley, meandering back and forth. There is an immense!! amount of snow up there. It's beautiful, if you like snow hiking, a pleasant moderate meander, up to the steep hillside up to the pass at the head of the valley. Even with snowshoes, I was sinking up to my hips, and eventually turned around.

I arrived to the trailhead at about 10 am on the morning of October 14th. The parking lot was surprisingly still empty. The skies were clear and the scenary was pretty picturesque. During the first stretch of the hike, I spotted several mountain goats on the side of the slope along the north side of the trail. About two miles out, I spotted a black bear, off in the distance, out in the clearing on the south side of the river. After that, I spotted another mountain goat resting on a ledge way above the trail. I encountered snow pack just at the beginning of the ascent to Hannegan Pass. At the peak, there was 3-6" of powdery snow. There were still berries on the bushes in this area, though they had a thin layer of snow on them. I proceeded down to the Boundary Camp below. Along the way down, I spotted numerous fresh bear tracks in the snow. As I was approaching the campgrounds, I spotted two bears off the trail, grazing in the meadows. One of them ran away when it saw me, while the other continued munching on the bushes. I stopped to eat my lunch here. On the way back, just as I was getting near the peak, I spotted yet another black bear up above, looking down on me. He watched me for a few seconds, then turned and climbed up over the pass. Other than that, nothing too eventful occurred on the trip back to the trailhead. The sky started to turn cloudy and the temps began to dip. I was glad to make it back to my truck without encountering any inclement weather. The hike was a good day-trip and I really enjoyed seeing all the wildlife (4 black bears and 3-4 mountain goats), especially since I had not expected to see much on this hike. There appeared to be a good supply of berries down near the Boundary Camp, so hopefully this will keep the bears fortified for their winter slumbers.

Started from the trailhead @ 8:50 AM... temp was approx 30 degrees, clear and cold.. one large blow down about 3 ft diameter needed to be climbed/crossed - easy enough.. Trail was in good shape with some mud/melt runoff, changing to ice in the trees and as elev was gained.. began to find snow on trail after about 3 miles.. Then had snow all the way to the top but was easily manageable.. 3 - 6 inches deep max on trail past the Pass.. little deeper in spots towards the summit.. Saw one large black bear below the trail past the Pass.. Views from the top were incredible with the fresh blanket of snow.. Most definitely worth the effort. Snow softened up significantly for the way down.. 3 hrs up... 2 1/2 down Dress appropriately.. it's cold in the AM.. and after the sun went behind Nooksack Ridge (~2 PM) the temps began to drop significantly --all photos by me