After reading other trip reports, and knowing the bridge was out on FS12, we decided to mountain bike the 6 miles from bridge to trailhead. The road was fine for biking, with large fallen trees over it and big muddy swampy places. The trail, however, was still under 2-3 feet of snow right from the get-go. There were (weeks? days?) old hikers' tracks on it, but the snow was so soft & deep that after we post-holed a couple of times we called off the hike. Bummer, because Blue Lake/Dock Butte is one of my favorite hikes. We did see some bear tracks, elk tracks, grouse and pretty flowers on our ride up the road.

I was going to  do a hike to Dock Butte off of forest road 1230 off of Baker Lake Road.   Had to abort the hike because a small bridge was blocked off (unstable?) 6 miles from the trailhead. 

FR 12 from Baker Lake Road has a lot of potholes (much worse than last year) but still okay for most vehicles (no Ferrari's).

We rode mountain bikes on FR 13, which is closed due to a washout at the Rocky Creek bridge.  6 miles and ~1800' later we arrived at the Blue Lake trailhead.  There is one big mud pit on the ride in and one large tree over the road near the trailhead.  Both were easy to get by.  The gravel road surface is in really good shape.

The trail to Dock Butte is in good condition.  There were a couple of small blow downs which were easy to get by.  There is one short scrambly section near the top of the Butte - this might be hazardous if the rock is wet.

We had an overcast sky all day, but the views were still gorgeous.  We did not see any other humans on the closed road or the trail.

On the way down we visited Blue Lake.

I've been wanting to do this hike for years but didnt realize the bridge was passable until recently. Headed up FS12, staying left at turnoff for Park Butte/Schreibers Meadows.  After about 1 mile, parked at the closed bridge over Rocky Creek. I wasnt up for a 6 mile hike up gravel roads so I rode to the trailhead on my touring bike, with my backpack in a BOB trailer.  A bit more of a grind than I had expected (1.5 hours), but well worth it in the end.  I didnt see anyone the entire trip and had the place to myself. Nice to see the network of social trails around Blue Lake slowly recovering. Hopefully it will continue to recover with everyone who visits being mindful of impact.

The road up is mostly passable by bike except for a muddy washout at mile 1.5, then a large Doug fir across the trail about .5 miles from the trailhead.  Otherwise just slow and steady pedaling up loose gravel. 

The hike up to Dock Butte is a really pleasant and moderate hike, with some fun scrambling at the top.If you aren't into scrambling, stay right just below the summit and follow the switchbacks up.  Knock your socks of views at the top. Blue Lake is so pristine and refreshing - especially after the Dock Butte hike.  There was a bunch of litter in the lake in about 10 ft of water - cans, scraps of PVC, camping debris, etc.  Didn't have goggles but heading back to do a cleanup on the next trip. If you beat me there, have at it. Apparently there are some people who don't appreciate the splendor of this place. Blue Lake/Dock Butte are pretty special. Let's try and keep it that way - tread gently and keep it a secret between us.  No, really. :-)  

Since the road is entirely closed (snow right now, plus washout in summer) we parked on a pullout/the start to an abandoned road just off Baker Lake Road and planned to bushwhack our way up to the peak. You could snowmobile FR-12 to the trailhead buuut we don't have snowmobiles.

This is ~4000ft of gain almost entirely off trail from Baker Lake Road. The first ~3k are straight up through the forest, which starts out as a heinous brush bash with dozens of downed trees but gets more open as you gain elevation. Eventually you pop out onto FR1230 far above Baker Lake Road, and from there it's easy cruising. We walked that section of road to the trailhead, and from there, the remaining ~1200ft of gain was on snowshoes. We followed the summer trail about a half mile before breaking off and going straight up the ridge to Dock Butte's summit. Snowshoes/skis definitely necessary for that section, not needed for the road or the bushwhack.

Phenomenal views, especially of the Twin sisters range (and of course, Shuksan and Baker). Loomis is quite in your face too. Baker Lake looked low, but I have never seen it from this perspective before, so can't be sure :)

More pics and details in the blog.