Park Butte — Saturday, Jun. 26, 2004

North Cascades > Mount Baker Area

Wonderful day hike. Started at Schreiber Meadows at 11:15 a.m. and back to the car by 4:30 p.m. We almost didn't go because the ranger in Sedro Wooley was trying to warn us that crossing Rock Creek would be tricky. Not at all!! Yes, you have to boulder hop a bit, and the water is higher at the end of the day, but no problem. The trail is snow free to Morovitz Meadow, but after that it's still totally covered, though the snow is fairly easy to walk on. Beautiful views of Mt. Baker and all the peaks in the distance, with some fog and clouds moving in and out. The best part was that we only saw about five or six parties all day, and NONE of them went up to Park Butte lookout, so we had it all to ourselves. What a treat. A few weeks from now this trail and the lookout will be swarming with people. We glissaded most of the way back to the trail. This makes for an easy day hike (7 miles round trip), and not too far a drive from Seattle.