Park Butte — Friday, Aug. 23, 2002

North Cascades > Mount Baker Area

Park Butte Lookout -- Trail Report -- 8/24/02 Bad bugs, warm blue skies, trail in very good condition except for the high water crossing of Rocky Creek. One hundred five miles from my north Seattle home the Park Butte trail starts it's rise into another world, the world of the Volcano. A fine moderately steep alpine trail with sublime views, it has meadows and forests and mountain views and a raging glacier stream to cross, but above all it has views of Mt. Baker the volcano, past and present. It's a white snow cone from distant Seattle, but from up close you can see the the two summits (Grant & Sherman) with steaming crater between. And even more impressive is the giant blown out crater just to the west (the Black Buttes) rimmed by 3 more summits (Lincoln, Colfax, & Seward ) . A blowup bigger than Mt. St. Helens 1980 blast took off the top of the old Mt. Baker long ago. We started up at 10 and were back down at 5:30. The flies were very bad for the first 2 miles thru Scriebers Meadow and in the steep forest switchbacks. Rocky Creek was extremely high and very difficult to cross. Entering lower Morovitz Meadow a breeze commenced and blew most of the flies away. This meadow and the upper one were in full bloom with vast swaths of pink heather dominating. A bald eagle soared above a ridge to our right. We passed a family camping in the upper meadow (a lone tent in a 300 acre meadow) and major snow patches too. The final mile of steep trail up rocky Park Butte has better and better views in every direction as you climb. Arriving at the lookout for a late lunch time we stayed a long while. The lookout building maintained by the Skagit Alpine Club is only 4 miles from Baker's summit. It gives a 360 degree view from it's cliff top perch. Baker north, Twin Sisters range west, North Cascades east and south east, and Loomis Mtn due south. In the north foreground and below are Mazama park and the upper Morovitz meadows. On the way down we played in the snow a little (none on the trail) and explored the polished rock pond basin about a half mile down from the summit. It's just past the view of Pocket Lake. Here several ponds supply reflected views of the volcano (a great photo opportunity). Don't miss it , most years August & Sept. are the only snow-free good weather months. Robert Michelson