Winter break is ending soon, my teacher brain is starting to churn back up, so I thought I would head into the mountains today for one last adventure. It is still not the best snowshoe weather, so I settled for a hike. Turned out I could have used my snowshoes anyway!
I left Bellingham at 6:20am, stopped in Glacier for a bathroom break. There are public restrooms that are open 24/7 (just west of Graham's Store, look for the signs along the highway), but I also discovered the restrooms at the National Forest Public Service Center (to the right, just as you leave Glacier heading east). Well-lit, well-stocked, climate-controlled - what more do you want?
The trailhead for Excelsior Pass is just over 7 miles past Glacier. Paved parking lot for several cars, bathrooms at the trailhead were clean and stocked (at least today). I arrived there around 7:30am, it was cloudy and mid-40s. I wore some layers on top and a base layer and hiking pants, but it really felt like an October hike, and base layers weren't really necessary. I barely even wore my warm hat or gloves.
The first two miles are smooth, solid trail through the woods. Quiet, stillness, beautiful. At 1.3 miles, there is a waterfall (and easy water access), definitely take time to stop and enjoy it.
After two miles, the trail gets interesting. Sometimes it is muddy, sometimes a shallow creek is flowing down the trail. A few blowdowns to step over or duck under. Nothing too terrible. Waterproof boots were nice to have - if you are wearing trail runners, expect wet feet. Eventually, snow patches are visible along the path. At 3 miles, consistent snow begins. Today it was mostly soft, but there are icy patches, especially on some of the wooden trail steps.
After 3.5 miles, the amount of snow increased dramatically. The trail is ALWAYS obvious, so routefinding was never a problem, but I started to sink every so often up to my calves. This is where I thought snowshoes would be nice.
At 4.1 miles, I realized I would have to traverse a steep hillside, in order to get to the intersection of trails at the top (which I enjoyed hiking on last summer). I don't know enough about avalanche conditions to feel safe crossing that hillside, so I stomped out a bench and took a well-deserved rest. Hydrated, enjoyed some snacks and peppermint cocoa, and mostly just stared at the amazing scenery. So much snow!
After a half hour rest, I headed back down. I was fine with just boots on the way up, but I put on my microspikes for the downhill - and I'm really glad I did. I felt much safer, especially on the icy parts. Poles also helped. I'm sure you can do this trail without traction or poles, but you will probably have to slow down and take more careful steps.
Took my microspikes off when the snow ended, and just lumbered down the rest of the way. It started to sprinkle about halfway down, but under the trees I barely felt any of it.
Total of 8.4 miles (according to AllTrails), 3200ft elevation gain, my ending elevation was 5100ft. Total hike time was 3 hours 40 minutes.
Grateful to be up in the mountains, a successful day avoiding thinking too much about school starting next week :)
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