East Bank Baker Lake — Saturday, Jan. 2, 2016

North Cascades > North Cascades Highway - Hwy 20

Easy yet cold weekend backpack to Noisy Creek Campground. We had the entire campsite to ourselves. Peace and quiet. Road: Well before the pavement ends, there are patches of ice/snow. Nothing a normal car can't handle though. On the gravel portion, the occasionally gets deeper. No issues getting to the trailhead with just 4x4. Trail: There are several large blowdowns, but all passable with caution. Majority of the trail has patches of compact snow. No need for snowshoes but microspikes would've helped in a few areas with solid ice (just a pain to constantly take off and on). Didn't use either and was able to hike well enough.