Welcome Pass — Saturday, Jul. 30, 2016

North Cascades > Mount Baker Area

Welcome Pass -> High Divide -> Excelsior peak -> unmarked trail east from Welcome Pass Was camping at Silver Fir - made it to the trailhead by 545am. It's an 8 minute commute from campsite to trailhead, but the part that is spent on the unmarked road to the trailhead is a rough, but short ride. It's a very narrow road that is quite overgrown - not a big deal, though. There were no cars when I arrived and only 3 other cars when I left (on a lovely Saturday, late July). This trail is far less popular than some of the fantastic trails in this area, but as far as I'm concerned, it's experience is near the top of the list. The 2.5 mile ascent through the woods is very steep, especially the last 1.75mi or so. It's more a bother on the descent in my opinion. Upon arriving at Welcome Pass, great views to the north greet. I hiked the 4 mile stretch from the Pass over to Excelsior Peak and back and saw no other humans the entire time. The views of Baker and Shuksan are fantastic, as are the views of Canadian Peaks and many other North Cascades peaks. It seemed unusually dry up there with virtually no snow anywhere (never seen it like that before, and been up here a number of times around this time of year). Flowers were good, but seemed on the downswing. After looping back to the Pass, I climbed the other direction over rolling hills. The views this direction really amplified Shuksan and other North Cascades Peaks. As many know, the tarns below Yellow Aster Butte can be accessed from here. I'm pretty sure I was close, but never made it as I had passed my cutoff time for the day. 17 miles in total.