My hike buddy Owen, little dog Mazzy, and I spent day 1 hiking out and back along the Scott Paul trail in the Mt. Baker National Recreation Area, in the mist and rain, before returning to the Vanagon to dry our wet gear out with the heater and sleep in cozy comfort. This beautiful trail climbs, crosses, and descends through a variety of ecosystems just below the glaciers of Kona Kulshan, but due to the clouds, we never saw a peek of the mighty mountain that day, and due to the rain and the bridge being out, It was still super gorgeous. Yes, the suspension bridge over Rocky Creek is out, and other hikers reported there is no viable ford there, so this must be done as an out and back currently, adding to the milage. One of the other creek crossings was fairly challenging, but we made it across via well-placed rocks without taking off our boots. Still totally worthwhile, despite the out-and-back/added milage!
Day two we backpacked up to the Railroad Grade trail below the Easton Glacier, pitched our tent with views of the big mountain to one side, and the Park Butte lookout and Glacier Peak over our shoulders, and then explored further up the knife-edged trail onto the shoulders of Mt. Baker for sunset, which was spectacular. With all of the crowds we’ve experienced the past two years, I expected the campground to be packed, but on monday night, we had the whole lower railroad grade camp to ourselves (and many marmots.)
On the way up, were weren’t sure if days 2 & 3 would be more hide & seek with the big mountain, but just before sunset, Baker burst into view, and then remained in and out of the clouds for the rest of our stay. The stars, meteors, and Milky Way even came out to say hello. When we picked out our camp site, I had no idea what our view was going to be…wow, what a great surprise! There are no ugly spots up here, they’re all fantastic.
I’ll definitely be back to do the Scott Paul trial again when the mountain is actually out (and hopefully when the bridge over Rocky Creek is up so it can be a loop,) camp in this area again, and get up Park Butte next time. It’s absolutely worthy of a repeat (and I do resist hike repeats!)
The water source/spring near Railroad Grade was just a trickle and a challenge to find, but there was a muddy water pit near where the sign points (we filtered from further up the valley.)
The road condition was fine. Yes, it’s a long gravel drive with plenty of potholes, but most cars with careful drivers should have no problem.
The parking lot was fairly full on sunday afternoon, and quite a few cars remained by tuesday, but I think most were climbers on Baker or day hikers to Park Butte.
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