We began our hike making Blue Lake our first destination. After about 0.3 miles we took trail 604 to the right and headed down to the lake. Our first observation when we arrived was that Blue Lake was green, but that was just a condition of where you look at it from. The lake reflects the evergreens in some areas and the rock wall at times and finally a deep blue from the southeast shore's peninsula.

We then retraced out steps and got on the Dock Butte trail-604.1 that takes you past a small meadow and then climbs through the forest on the southeast side of the ridge with glimpses now of the lake far below. As we rounded the top ridge of the ridge we got our first sight of Mount Baker. After this you will pass through several meadows at a mellow gain before the last steep climb to the top. There are two trails to the summit. The one to the left is straight up and I hear not for the faint of heart. I took the trail to the right which switchbacks up the northwest side of the butte with constant sight of Mount Baker. This trail converges with the other just below the top and then there are two short scrambles that I found a bit challenging going up and worse going down.

From the top of Dock Butte the views are amazing. Looking southeast is  Lake Shannon with Glacier Peak behind it and then Whitehorse and Mount Shuksan to the northwest, Mount Baker, Park Butte and Railroad Grade, Loomis Mountain and the Sisters range.

There are still remnants of the lookout that was built in 1935-just a few small shards of window glass, rusted nails and a twisted anchor bolt.

FR-12 is still has washboards and potholes but FR-1230 is in better condition but it is narrow in places, nearly one lane, but there are several wide turnoffs.

A nice day to hike up to Dock Butte and then pick up Blue Lake on the way back to the trailhead.  The trailhead was relatively empty.  We saw a few other hikers but for the most part we were alone.

For most of the hike the bugs were not a problem, but once you reached Blue Lake it was like the mosquitoes smelled fresh meat. 

Easy hike from the trailhead after a long and winding gravel road.  Not a long hike to get to Blue Lake.  Though once you get near the lake there are many side trails so it is difficult to know which way to go.  The best trails to take are to go left at the first fork.  This will bring you to a trail that is perpendicular to the lake.  Go left once you reach a view of the lake.  This will take you to some nice spots to access the lake.  We did not go further so cannot report on other side trails.  We did go back and try to hike to Dock Butte but never reached it after hiking, at least, a mile from the Blue Lake trail.  The directions we were given said there was a good viewpoint of Mt. Baker after 1/2 mile but we did not see that.

Decided to hike despite the smoky conditions from the forest fires in BC. Views were minimal, could barely see neighboring peaks. There were some wildflowers blooming which were beautiful! However, the flies were pretty bad. If you stopped at all they were on you all over, and constantly buzzing around your head even if you kept a good pace. We brought bug spray and it did not seem to help much. Be warned!