Park Butte, Railroad Grade — Wednesday, Sep. 15, 2010

North Cascades > Mount Baker Area

Went to the area for the first time today. The drive to the trailhead is really fun, the gravel road is very well maintained. The parking lot was huge but there were only maybe 10 cars there even though it was nice and sunny. Blueberries are all around, they start right from the parking lot. The trail is gentle until the creek crossing, then it starts switch-backing for maybe a mile until you enter the meadows and see Mt Baker. I walked first on the moraine on the Railroad Grade trail for a little while. Lots of marmots and the views are spectacular! Would not recommend that portion of the trail to the people with vertigo issues though. Then I went to the lookout on Park Butte trail. There were still some nice fresh wildflowers. The switchbacks weren't too bad and soon you reach even more blueberries and even better views. The lookout is also fun to visit. On the way back the weather turned bad: it started raining and there was plenty of thunder. I was glad I had my rain-gear. Met hunters for the first time on the trail and I wasn't crazy about it. Right after leaving the parking lot I met that hunter walking around right next to the trail with a loaded gun (which was gigantic) and pointing everywhere. It was the creepiest thing I've ever seen on a trail. When I was leaving the lot in the rain there was another hunter with huge gun just starting his hike. I honestly don't think hunters and hikers should mix on the same trail, it made me feel very uncomfortable. Oh, well, at least I didn't look like a bear to them.