Lake Ann (Mount Baker Highway) — Tuesday, Aug. 24, 2010

North Cascades > Mount Baker Area

Perfect morning in the north Cascades. Temperature was in the 50's and visibility was nearly unlimited. The plus of getting an early jump on the trail is having it all to yourself at dawn. The downside is walking through a thousand spider webs in the first two miles. Not that this ruined the experience, but it made for a bit of a distraction. The bugs were also fairly thick at the trail head but thinned out once I got under way. The trail itself is in great shape. There are only two small patches of snow left on the trail. The first is at about 3 miles and is only a few dozen yards across. The second is near the saddle just before you descend to Lake Ann. (The patches are small enough its not even worth toggling the “Snow on Trail” tag.) The wildflowers are still present but appear to have peaked. The lake itself is nearly devoid of snow. Overall this is an amazing hike. The first two miles or so are mostly through forest and meadows. Once you start to put on elevation gain the views become stellar. You have to earn that last mile to the lake, but once you're there it's more than worth it. This trail doesn't have more than a few weeks before the snow sets in. If anyone is contemplating it now is the time. You won't be disappointed. By the way, big thanks to the Northwest Youth Corps folks that were doing some trail maintenance at about mile 3.