Park Butte — Saturday, Oct. 13, 2001

North Cascades > Mount Baker Area

First time on this trail - will definately return to explore more. After the glacial streams the trail starts heading up and in places was very muddy. Snow covered the trail in exposed areas. At the top of the climb in the upper meadow, the snow was continuous. We paused at the fork leading to Railroad grade. We thought we'd have a better chance or reaching Park Butte than high camp so we headed left. Saw only a couple of others on the trail. The snow became deeper (estimate 18 inches) as we went on with lots of wet spots. It was mostly overcast but certainly the last mile to the lookout was gorgeous with the bowl covered in a fresh fall of snow and the tarns frozen over. After lunch at the lookout by ourselves, we were fortunate to catch glimpses of Baker. On the way down the weather cleared out. Fantastic colors in the lower meadows and the blueberries are everywhere below the snow line.