Two trail buddies and I decided to enjoy a day in the  mountains so headed out to Ashland Lakes!  My friend drover her Rubicon so the drive up was no issue at all-yaya for high clearance!  The hike was stunning!  We took our time as one in our party was recovering from an ankle surgery and we laughed and chatted our way up the trail.  The lakes were so beautiful!  I’m beyond grateful for times to spend in under the trees with good buddies! 

From the description, this sounds like the perfect trail for a leisurely stroll to 3 beautiful lakes.  Having recently hiked to these three lakes and experiencing the trail and numerous boardwalks first hand, we can see how this was at one time a delightful journey and destination.

NOT ANY MORE!  Getting to Beaver Plant Lake was pretty much as expected with no major issues except the “platform” at the lake needed some repair along with some of the boardwalks, but nothing dangerous in our opinion.

Arriving at Upper Ashland Lake is where the trail seriously deteriorates. It isn’t just a difficult journey, it is down-right hazardous. It begins with floating boardwalks, many detached from their bases and each other. If you step on the boardwalks they sink, some in water deeper than our hiking pole could reach the bottom (not some place I want to fall off the slippery boardwalk). When I stepped on one slightly submerged board, it moved, revealing it wasn’t attached to anything! It then floated off. I almost lost my balance while stepping onto an adjacent board. Ended up sinking into the marsh up to my knee; thankfully it wasn’t any deeper.

The boardwalks are wobbly, tilted, slippery, missing, or sunk to the bottom.  Most of the campsites are soggy and messy; not someplace I’d want to set up a tent (This is the first of August in a dry year, when does this place dry out?). The outhouse at Upper Ashland Lake is surrounded by water though still accessible if you wade or trample the shrubbery.

To get to Lower Ashland Lake, one must bushwhack around all the sunken/missing boardwalks through dense huckleberry bushes (which by the way, are flourishing right now and loaded with a bumper crop of sour berries).  As stated in the description, there is a bench and platform at the lower lake, but it is in serious need of repair also.

My advice, bring a boat.

And for anyone venturing on to Twin Falls Lake, don’t rely too heavily on the “ribbons.” We discovered there are many routes that people have taken over the years and added their own personal “flagging,” not all these routes are the best route (one blue ribbon has you crawling under a massive downed tree – no need to do that! the trail higher up on the hillside is easy to follow without crawling under anything). The best route we found starts 30 or so feet before the elevated log bridge over the outlet stream of Lower Ashland Lake.  When you see the bridge, head into the skunk cabbage marsh on the right side of the boardwalk and the trail to Twin Falls will soon become discernible.  With a careful eye, it is discernible almost the entire way to the Twin Falls Lake.  Many downed trees and debris to maneuver makes the journey difficult, but it is not that bad and we didn’t find it any more “unsafe” than the rest of the trail. Just be mindful of cliffs, unbridged creek crossings, tricky switchbacks obscured by downfall and new growth, and the endless slippery, deteriorating boardwalks.

This is the long anticipated full-length report on the abandoned Bald Mtn Trail!  I managed to follow the old route all the way from the Ashland Lakes side to the Cutthroat Lakes and back again.  It is doable but not easy.  Only skilled backcountry navigators should attempt the entire trail.

As others have reported, the first couple miles or so to the top of west summit is fairly easy to follow, but you will still have to contend with many large blowdowns, broken puncheon bridges, mud and overgrowth.  I recomend exploring this section for the big trees and impressive boulders, including Muledeer's "Darth Vader's Helmet."  You'll know it when you see it.  Past the peekaboo view at west summit, trail conditions deteriorate rapidly.  Occasional switchbacks make losing the trail easier.  Hikers with more experience on faint trails will still be able to follow the route until you reach a very nice (but buggy) campsite beside a creek at about 4 miles in.  This creek is the only water source on the entire trail, so make friends with it.  Past the creek, the trail completely vanishes into the forest.

The next 3.5 miles or so of trail is mostly nonexistant and completely overgrown.  Large blowdowns block the trail and confuse the route.  Huckleberry and salmonberry choke the hillsides and hide remnants of the trail.  Many areas require crawling through shrubbery or under logs.  Detouring around areas of blowdown or washouts requires veggie belaying (holding onto shrubs and trees) to keep from tumbling downhill.  Cut logs, old tread, bits of flagging and diamond-shaped badges nailed to trees help to keep you on route, but they are inconsistant; you will follow the signs for a while then they will just stop before picking up again farther down the trail.  Double diamonds mark switchbacks that are otherwise easy to miss, but again, they are inconsistant.  Random sections of the trail are still in decent shape while other parts are totally obliterated.  Much of the remaining tread is badly sloped. 

The trail mostly follows the 3600' contour for roughly a mile after the creek crossing before switchbacking up to the base of one of Bald's sub-peaks at about 3900'.  This area is one of the most confusing spots, and I was constantly consulting my map and compass to stay on course.  The trail straightens out again and climbs steadily along the 4000' contour before reaching a landslide.  Go straight across the slide (requires some scrambling over loose stones) and the trail will be there in the trees near a bit of flagging tape.  The trail then brings you to a second set of switchbacks which are oddly clear of overgowth and easy to follow.  These will take you to the top of the ridge and your first view of East Bald!  After ridging out, follow a short section of trail that is still in almost perfect shape before coming to the last (and worst) hurdle before reaching East Bald Mtn...

The trail is hopelessly overgrown with hemlocks, vine maple and slide alder.  You will have to crawl, push, pull, fight and curse your way through very dense brush on the edge of rocky cliffs.  Much of the trail has eroded away, requiring veggie belaying across 45° slopes that once hosted a path.  Epic views of Spada Reservoir, Bald Mtn, Mt. Rainier and distant Cascades peaks motivate you to keep going.  Perserverance is soon rewarded when you reach another area of quality trail that looks like someone touched it up in the last couple years.  At this point congrats, you have officially reached the Cutthroat Lakes side!!!

I climbed to the summit and let out a whoop before heading down to the Cutthroat Lakes to make camp.  The lakes basin is still holding a snowpack, but it's easy to cross the intermittent snow and get to the still half-frozen upper lake.  I set up camp for the night and enjoyed having the whole area all to my lonesome thanks to the Mallardy Road closure.  Hiking out the next day took almost as long as the hike in due to the challenging terrain and routefinding.

This trail is badly in need of serious maintenance, but it is totally saveable!  Just one or two BCRT's would bring it back to life.  And all the trip reports for it recently!  There is obvious interest in this path and if WTA is looking for suggestions as to it's next lost trail found, I nominate the Bald Mountain Trail!

Summary: ~19 miles RT w/~3000ft elevation gain. Allow at least 8-10 hours one-way for BMT. I highly advise doing this adventure as an overnight.

"It traverses a long ridge of meadow and old-growth forest for over 8 miles to the base of 4851-foot Bald Mountain. Expect lots of ups and downs, and the trail can be dry by late season."

-Craig Romano on the Bald Mtn Trail, Day Hiking North Cascades

Boardwalk navigable until Upper Ashland where 6" of water submerges much of the trail. Boards are out and trail isn't accessible to lower Ashland (unless you fancy a thigh-to-waist-deep-wade. Bugs were annoying but mostly gnats with a few mosquitos mixed in. Trail to bald mountain peak west is rough (as advertised) and I lost the path a couple times and ended up bushwhacking a ways.

Not much to say that's different than the trip reports below.

We went for an overnight here, as Walt Bailey road was closed. On the way up, I cleared out a 6" diameter tree out of the trail (per all the standards) with a trusty handsaw. Hiking by Upper Ashland lake, with the inconvenience of some floating planks, we ended up camping at Beaver Plant Lake as we didn't want to create more social trails (and I wasn't sure if it was a sign to the state further down the trail).

Beaver Plant lake was very lovely- I'd say a great place for first time backpackers, as it's only 1.2 miles (or 1.4) from the TH, camp rings are set up, plenty of places to pitch a tent, and a toilet for #2 to boot! We were also the only folks there on a sunny Friday night, outside of bugs, singing frogs and woodpeckers chipping' away.

Contemplated doing the Bald Mountain Loop to the East VP in the AM, but having been to the West VP, we decided to head to Pinnacle Lake as we hadn't been.

Looking forward to heading back this way maybe in a couple months, staying two nights and completing Ashland's one day and Bald Man the next, or vice versa. Happy Trails!