Arrived at the trail head around 1030 am. Only vehicle in the parking lot. Trail was covered in snow and ice the entire way. Snow was packed and easy to hike on. Ice made the trail difficult at some points. Beautiful day out. No clouds and bright blue sky. Started up to Dock butte first, then headed to Blue lake after. Overall time was about 3.5 hours. Snow and ice made the hike beautiful in many spots. All the small ponds and waterfalls were frozen over. Road up was clear with a small amount of snow towards the top. Overall great day.

Chose this short, scenic hike for a relatively clear day when couldn't leave Seattle until noon. Drive took 2.25 hours from downtown Seattle to trailhead (driving instructions below since WTA page does not include them). Trail to Dock Butte is 1.7 miles one-way and gains 1300 feet (3900' to 5200'). Trail winds up gradually but steadily through forest and emerges onto a series of meadowed plateaus at about 4500'. Lots of possible campsites on plateau but tarns are only water source. Abundant blueberries, still edible, on the plateaus, and an array of colorful mushrooms. Full views of Mt. Baker at several points during the ascent to the butte. Trail footing very good, except for final push to top of butte, where there is a narrow and steep rock ledge, but this is only about a half dozen steps. Top of butte affords 360" views toward Mt. Baker, Mt. Shuksan, Glacier Peak area, the Sisters, and Puget Sound. At 0.2 miles into trail, there is a short (0.5 mile one-way) spur trail to Blue Lake, a small lake sitting in a bowl, ringed with camp spots and fed by a few waterfalls. Pikas chirping across the lake. Driving instructions: From I-5 take Highway 20 east for 23 miles, turning left (north) onto Baker Lake Road (between mileposts 82 and 83). Continue 12 miles and turn left on Forest Road 12 (the turnoff is 0.2 mile after you enter Mount Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest). Trailhead is 10.8 miles from this turn. At 3.7 miles you will pass a fork which goes to Park Butte (stay left at this intersection). At 7.0 miles turn left onto Road 1230 (right fork goes to Elbow Lake). The two intersections just described are well-marked; you follow the road for the Blue Lake trail. Road dead-ends at trailhead. There is a pit toilet at the trailhead.

Blue Lake is a beautiful subalpine lake located at 4,000ft elevation. This is a small family friendly trail with incredible payoffs. A serene private lake tucked away behind a towering granite rock wall with spectacular vista views over a waterfall at the lake's output. Even though it feels like the middle of nowhere, it took me only 30 minutes to hike in with little effort. I set up camp here and hiked Dock Butte (a little more strenuous yet not a full day hike) the next morning. Several easily passable old blowdowns. Blueberries everywhere, birds chirping, still reflective tarns, and great views of Baker, Shuksan and the North Cascades. Great solo trip!

A hike not too long, not too steep, just right for families with kids, offers great views from the old look out site. Although not much wiggle room, at the top, so keeping an eye on little wanderers is necessary. A short meander to Blue Lake in its cliff ringed basin is a good ending...

This was a great hike on a clear, hot day with gorgeous views at the top. Most sites list this hike as "moderately difficult" or "more difficult", but the one I read prior to our hike listed it as "easy" for some reason. We were a little surprised at the steep rocky scrambles near the top, but the biggest annoyance was the constant presence of bugs! From the trailhead to the top, we had flies and bees buzzing around our heads constantly. While we didn't get bitten, you can imagine what a nuisance it is to be surrounded by bugs for 4 hours straight. Anyway, the snow patches were not hard to cross until we got to the switchbacks. We still didn't have much of a problem, but poles would have been helpful. We felt a little wimpy when a dog came along and scampered easily across the steep snowy areas :) The amazing views of Mt Baker surrounded by a cloudless sky were our reward after we scrambled to the top. We rested for about 20 minutes and headed back down. FYI: another hiker pointed out a more direct route down that avoided the snowy switchbacks. We were very grateful because we weren't looking forward to navigating those on the way back down. You can also take this direct route up, but we didn't notice it on the way up. It's fairly obvious on the way down - just past the rocky scramble part. Overall, it took us about 4 hours total, including our break at the top.