Important: Read for details regarding safe crossings of the Middle Fork.

Summary: Parked at Elbow Lake trailhead, hiked to the end of the road, then Rdiley Creek Trail, around Cathedral Crag, up to Park Butte, back down to Mazama Camp, down through Bell Pass, and back via Elbow Lake. 

Full Report:

Started from the Elbow Lakes trailhead today at about 7:30. We first checked to see if there was a way to safely cross the Middle Fork upon getting back to the river on the far side at the end of route, and were satisfied, so we jogged up the road and started the Ridley Creek Trail

Thanks to an earlier trail report, we found the fallen tree that allowed us to cross the Middle Fork about a quarter mile upstream from where the old bridge washed out. It's definitely the only reasonable crossing that we laid eyes on. Piece of cake with a trekking pole to help.

Enjoyed the hike up Ridley, though there were a fair number of fallen trees to navigate over, under or around. Nothing too crazy though.

After arriving at Mazama Camp we opted to go around the north side of Cathedral Crag for some variety, knowing Park Butte would be an out and back. That path is definitely less used and a bit overgrown. But it wasn't too hard to stay on track. Park Butte was lovely as always. Lot's of folks up there from the Baker Lake side.

We headed back down the main trail to Mazama Camp and followed the Bell Pass trail, which was brushy at times and also had some trees to navigate, but really not bad at all. Same with the Elbow Lake trail. Pretty back there at the lakes!

When we eventually made it back down to the Middle Fork, we realized the log in question was not as stable as we would've liked. Fortunately we took our time exploring and found a makeshift bridge downstream a ways. There is a faint trail on the south side of the river leading to the bridge off of the mapped Elbow Lakes. There is also a trail from the bridge up to the road. I marked both locations and you can see on the attached image.

Bottom Line: All these trails are usable, but make sure you are careful with the Middle Fork and take the time to find the correct crossings. Enjoy!

We were able to cross MF Nooksack about 1/4 mile upstream from the washed-out bridge on a fallen log and stump. The dog was carried across this. The river was running high and fast and did not seem safe to ford.

The trail to Mazama park featured a long section of large windfall which added difficulty to the hike.

We camped at the park. About half of the tent sites were already taken by groups that had come from Schreiber's side. The pit toilet at Mazama park is very full and needs to be re-dug.

We checked out the Elbow Lake trail before deciding to take Ridley Ck. That crossing would also have been difficult to ford, although it looks like a WTA crew was out working on that trail and had setup a handline.

I was on a WTA trail crew out here Saturday and Sunday. We were cutting some of the many trees that are down.
We came out Saturday and the river was high. Sunday the river was too high to cross, we could not go back out. Found out today the bridge is completely gone. The river is extremely fast and very deep, unpassable even with fording. 

I went out FS Rd 38 to the Ridley Creek trailhead to investigate if the footlog had survived the winter. The footlog was mostly intact but has been compromised by high water flow and it looks like one section was fine and had the handline attached but the first section was missing the handline and was at a pretty steep uphill angle. As it turned out this was just the beginning of the challenges on this trail. I counted over 60 trees down in the first mile and that's all the further I went. Some trees had been cleared in the first .2 of a mile, it looks like someone used a chainsaw (pretty sure this is in wilderness). Not sure what will happen this season with this trail, I imagine the FS might have other priorities but hopefully we'll be able to get some WTA crews out. It took 45 minutes for me to make it back down, losing the trail in a couple spots and having to circle back. Pretty epic trail damage, some of the trees are at least 3 ft. in diameter.

At the trailhead there was a dust of snow that had turned icy. Snow depth gradually increased to about 8 inches at Mazama, all similarly icy. I had luck following the trail of two hikers from a couple of days before - otherwise it might have been hard to find at times, especially up in the more meadow-y areas. Conditions were sunny and cold. A tough hike, especially with the snow, but very well worth the views and the stillness. Plenty of frozen blueberries left for picking! The bridge at the start of the hike was passable, but only half of it was roped - I sat on my butt and shimmied the first length.

Made it to Mazama in 2.5 hours, and on to Park Butte lookout in an additional hour. Back to the trailhead from Park Butte was 2.5 hours. The additional length to Park Butte is about 2 miles and 700 vertical feet, increasing the roundtrip distance to about 11 miles and total elevation gain to 2900'. My total roundtrip time, with minimal breaks, was just under 7 hours.

I would not recommend doing this hike alone - accidents can happen, especially in snow, and this is not a well-traveled trail. I did not see any other hikers until I joined the Park Butte trail in the final mile of ascent. If you do go alone, take proper precautions in case of emergency (first aid kit, emergency shelter, plenty of food, and tell somebody where you are going and when you plan to be back)!

Be aware that the road to the trailhead from Mosquito Lake Road took about 75 minutes in my FWD hatchback. It would be quicker in a truck, or a car with higher-than-average clearance and 4WD. Watch for potholes and downed trees! My cell signal cut just after turning onto Mosquito Lake Road outside Acme (T-Mobile).