Mazama Park via Ridley Creek — Sunday, Jul. 24, 2011

North Cascades > Mount Baker Area

Decided to get out of the 77-degree afternoon heat by hiking this lonely trail today. Even though the water was a bit high from the melting snow, the Nooksack River crossing was much easier than expected. Right where the trail comes out, the river is bridged by two logs, which I was able to cross on with ease. But when it was my dog's turn, he only made it 2/3 across before refusing to go any farther. He had to be lifted, and turned around in order to return. After an hour of looking, I was able to find another crossing point, which was another log a few hundred feet upstream. Though it took a bit of bushwacking to reach it, both me and the dog easily crossed it. Despite its limited maintenance, the trail was in surprisingly good shape. The biggest issue was the many blowdowns, especially on the lower sections. Fortunately, the trail has been re-routed around the larger ones. The other major trail issue was the large amount of mud and water. In some sections, the trail is no more than a muddy creek bed, and the only evidence that you are going the right way is the footprints and occasional cut logs. I was pleasantly surprised that there was absolutely no overgrowth, and very little erosion on the switchbacks, which is unusual for such a rarely used trail. The only other people I met were two backpackers, who had spent the previous night at Mazama Park. Apparently, it had taken them more than two hours to coax their two Huskies across the river. The wildflowers are just starting to come out, and Bunchberry abounds on the side of the lower trail. Patchy snow started at 4200', and became solid at about 4300', right as the trail got into the Mazama Park Meadows. Though large sections around the trees are starting to melt, it will take a few weeks for the good 4-5' of snow to be gone. I followed the backpacker's footprints through the meadow until I lost them at 4500', right before the junction with the Bell Pass trail. The show was surprisingly firm, and I did not need trekking poles. It is pretty easy to tell where the trail goes, and it appears one could follow it up to Baker Pass, but I would recommend bringing trekking poles and an ice axe. It was starting to get late, so after admiring the views of Park Butte, Cathedral Craig, and the Twin Sisters, I turned back.