We did 18 miles up Ridley Creek through Mazama Park, popped up to Park Butte Lookout, back to Mazama Park to head down Bell Pass, and made our way back via Elbow Lake Trail.
Disregard the previous the trip report. The bridge over Ridley Creek is 100% passable. The water flow has subsided and is a fairly easy crossing.
Ridley Creek Trail is in excellent condition! We headed up around 9am and didn't see another soul. There were minimal snow fields to Mazama Park and we had no trouble sticking to the trail. They should be gone in a week or so. When we got to Mazama Park some friendly hikers had already claimed the cabin but we just wanted to check it out before continuing up to Park Butte. There is a newer toilet at Mazama Park with a great view of Park Butte if you're looking for a scenic bathroom break.
This section of trail was also in great condition. Again a bit of snow but the trail reappeared often enough that I never pulled out my navigation to get us to the intersection with the Park Butte trail.
The Park Butte trail, as one might expect, is where we started encountering LOTS of people coming and going from the lookout. It was almost entirely snow covered but the boot pack was easy to follow up to the lookout, where all the snow is melted. Way too many people were hanging around the lookout so we didn't linger long.
Bell Pass Trail was pretty overgrown - it seems many people do not take this route. But it was beautiful! Lots of flowers, quite a few downed trees that we maneuvered around/over, and signs of bear presence (poop, prints, and scratch marks on a dead tree) but no bear sightings.
Elbow Lakes trail was in similar condition from Bell Pass to the lakes - after the lakes it was a bit less overgrown. The river crossing on Elbow Lakes trail to get to the trailhead is a bit sketchy. There is a log laid across the water which we butt scooted over to get to the finish. One person was skillful enough to walk it.
7/23/20 EDIT: I stand corrected. The bridge in the photo is over the river. However, there is nothing memorable about any other water crossings, so the actual Ridley Creek is safe to cross.
Comments
T&C N on Mazama Park via Ridley Creek, Bell Pass, Elbow Lake
Just to avoid any confusion... That first picture with the two logs to cross, is not Ridley Creek. It is the Middle Fork Nooksack River coming off of Deming Glacier. The Ridley Creek trail does not cross Ridley Creek until just before Mazama Camp.
Of course, this crossing of the Middle Fork is not to be confused with the other crossing for the Elbow Lake Trail, just a bit further down stream, which does not have the log bridge.
Posted by:
T&C N on Jul 23, 2020 04:34 PM
heatheristall on Mazama Park via Ridley Creek, Bell Pass, Elbow Lake
Post and image edited. Thanks for the notes.
Posted by:
heatheristall on Jul 23, 2020 06:05 PM