Elbow Lake, Bell Pass & Mazama Park via Ridley Creek — Saturday, Aug. 2, 2014

North Cascades > Mount Baker Area

Full trip report here: http://www.nwhikers.net/forums/viewtopic.php?t=8012047 I combined three of the loneliest trails in the Mount Baker Wilderness in a great 14 mile loop! While most of the loop is in the woods, there is enough variety to kill off any monotony that I find common to other forest walks. I started on the Elbow Lake Trail and ended on the Ridley Creek Trail. The first crossing of the Middle Fork Nooksack River had a nice footlog. The Elbow Lake Trail and Bell Pass Trails are well maintained and free of deadfall and major drainage issues. There are a couple brushy areas near Elbow Lake but nothing too bad. My map claimed that the Bell Pass trail started off of FS road 12, but it actually starts off of Elbow Lake Trail about a mile past the lakes. There are a couple muddy areas near bell pass where puncheon is being built. It looks like they started last year but haven't finished yet. The start of Ridley Creek Trail is difficult to find, look for an unmarked junction just past the Mazama Park horse shelter. There are several areas where the tread has vanished, and I counted 31 trees fallen across the trail. In the first mile it crosses two deep creekbeds and a series of marshy meadows. The segment of trail through the meadows is very indistinct, I found it helpful to look for other hikers' footprints in the mud. After entering the woods, routefinding no longer becomes a problem, but deadfall is constant. Bypassing one especially large tree required climbing 20' up the steep hillside! From the bottom of the switchbacks to the river, the trail once again becomes difficult to follow as it follows rocky creekbeds and mossy ditches. It was easy to get off-trail through here. This trail offers the closest access to Baker from Bellingham, too bad it's fallen into such disrepair. The final step is to re-cross the Nooksack, this time only 1.5 miles below the Deming Glacier. Just before reaching an abandoned shack, scramble down to the gravel bars and follow the river upstream to another log. This log was more slippery than the first one, so I butt-scooted across it. Once across the river, I followed cairns downstream to where the trailhead connector picks up. A quick 1.5 mile roadwalk concluded the loop.

More Information on this Trip Report

• http://www.nwhikers.net/forums/viewtopic.php?t=8012047