Mazama Park via Ridley Creek — Saturday, Oct. 4, 2014

North Cascades > Mount Baker Area

Participated on WTA's second weekend work party on this trail on October 4th and 5th. I wanted to update my prior trip report with the current trail conditions after the completion of the USFS trail crew and WTA work for this year. The Glacier Ranger District USFS crew had gone in for a second week and completed logging out the trail. They have also elevated the foot-log on cribbing to get it higher above the Middle Fork Nooksack. The foot-log had washed out during the week that they were completing the log out. That makes the trail deadfall free all the way up through Mazama Park to the junction with the Bell Pass trail. For WTA's part, we completed brushing out the trail all the way to the start of the switchbacks along with some improvements of the worst sections of tread. These efforts have returned this historic trail to a passable status. Admittedly, the tread needs a lot of work. There are several muddy spots and areas where the trail appears to also be a stream during and after a heavy rain, but this trail is no rougher than many others in the North Cascades that receive little maintenance. One last note, this road is gated on December 1st each winter. I also need to add that along with the Hemlocks and Alaskan Yellow Cedar there are numerous Pacific Silver Fir in the lower elevations. On the history note, I was sent a Mazama magazine article from the 1920's that stated the community of Demming built the trail in 1909 prior to a Mazama all summer expedition to map the south side of Mount Baker. Many of the features on the south and west side of the mountain sport names given them by the Mazamas.