WTA work party, after this weekend a couple of trouble spots will have been improved. There is still many mud zones basically the low areas, with the amount of rain lately the creeks are rising. The log bridges are holding up well.  The road to artist point closed today so expect some snow when you get higher. Great hike for those who like primitive trails.

Happy hiking!

After a incredibly successful outing of berry-picking at Goat Mountain the day before, my friends and I were ready for a fun loop hike out of Park Butte to visit a BCRT crew and cap off the weekend. But the weather was looking grey and cloudy -- views were not to be had, and because we were staying in Maple Falls, driving all the way around to the Park Butte wasn't sounding so great. 

Luckily, a colleague reminded me that Ridley Creek trailhead provides access to Park Butte from the northwest side of Mount Baker, so we braved the quite long, somewhat potholed FR 83 to its end, where we parked our car and headed into the woods. 

The trail is pretty nice, particularly in the first couple of miles, though the bridge crossing Ridley Creek is a little feeble-looking for the size of the creek. Still, it was perfectly serviceable and we got across with dry feet. 

There's a gorgeous little grotto just past the river crossing that I could have sat in for hours, but we pushed on and upwards. The trail gets fairly steep around mile two -- getting you uphill in a hurry. Luckily there are plenty of berries to fuel you along the way. 

Mazama Camp was packed with huckleberries and blueberries. We stopped and had a snack, and chatted with the BCHW people who were helping pack out a WTA volunteer vacation that had just left. They told us where the other crew was and we headed off in search of them. 

At a crucial junction, because of the fog and because we'd come in the back way, we turned wrong and wound up heading up to the lookout first. Of course, there was no view to speak of. There were lots of other hikers, including a fair few who were volunteers maintaining the lookout. Thanks, folks. 

Heading back down, we got sorted out and returned to that crucial junction. We realized we could see the crew in the distance, so headed over to them to distribute nectarines and dark chocolate peanut butter cups, which were appreciated.

On the way back down to the car, we decided to stop in Mazama Park to pick hucks. There were so many, growing so close together, that we were able to get about half what we'd picked the day before in about 30 minutes of picking!

As is tradition, I wind up visiting a lookout during one of the few cloudy days of the year. Nevertheless, views weren’t really our goal for this hike. The extension to Park Butte was more of an afterthought, if anything. We were in it for the berries — and on that front, we were more successful than I could have ever dreamed.

The first handful of miles up Ridley Creek is more or less uneventful, although the river crossing immediately past the parking lot is a real treat. The (shockingly sturdy) bridge is an impressive feat of engineering.

Once you level off near the Mazama Park, the fields start to explode with late summer berries — more than I’ve ever seen! We stopped by the cabin to munch before greeting some Backcountry Horsemen of Washington volunteers and petting a few of their friendly horses.

From here we headed up the rocky slope to the junction with Park Butte in search of a group of WTA volunteers we knew were working in the area. We ended up taking the turn to Park Butte first, and while we didn’t find the WTA volunteers we were looking for, we found _another_ group of volunteers (with the Alpine Club, if I recall correctly) who were working on sprucing up the siding and railing of the structure. We thanked them for their work and took in the ‘view’ before heading back down to the valley.

With fresh peaches and chocolates in tow, we managed to finally find the WTA crew working on a narrow section of trail past the valley. We surprised them with a treat of fresh peaches and chocolates and it was great to see their faces light up despite the dreary weather. Collectively, this was the largest volume of volunteers I have ever encountered while on a hike — it was so heartwarming to see and I’m so glad I had the opportunity to meet some of them! Their work and generosity help keep Mazama Park and Park Butte in the best shape it can be.

We had planned a longer route for this day and were aiming to leave the Park Butte trailhead, head up to the top of the pass, and then complete a loop of Bell Pass trail, Elbow Lake trail, and Ridley Creek trail, then head back over to Park Butte TH for about 20-22 miles of trail running.

The road getting up to the Park Butte trailhead had some sections of potholes but shouldn’t prove to be troublesome for most cars as long as you go slow and keep your eyes open.

The trail getting up to intersection of Park Butte trail and Bell Pass trail was in fantastic condition.  Easy to follow, and I’m sure on a clear day, offers fantastic views of Mt. Baker.  We crested the ridge and dropped down past the Mazama shelter, maintaining a solid and enjoyable pace, grinning with anticipation knowing that we’d have a little over 8 miles of easy downhill jogging to the Elbow Lake Trailhead.

Alas, our high expectations were not met.  The trail, assaulted by plants on both sides, quickly thinned out.  It went through phases of being wide open and easy to pass, to sections where we couldn’t even see our feet underneath the growth.  We whacked our ways through the brush, getting scratched up by thorns and covered in various seeds and needles.  A few of the plants were covered in this foam that would cover our legs and shorts.  It was a little eerie not knowing if it was in any way harmful.  A Google search afterwards suggests it might be from spittlebugs and shouldn’t be anything to worry about!

Every once in a while we’d catch a view of the Twins, but the views were mostly few and far between.  By about mile 12 from Park Butte TH, we had reached an aggressively flowing river and the trail thinned out even more as we tried to follow pink flags up the river’s edge.  This became futile and we eventually caved to the fact that we were lost.  We bushwhacked in circles for a while until we eventually threw in the towel and sat down on the river’s edge for lunch.  The perfect loop route I had labored over seemed like a bust.

A few bites in to my turkey and muenster baguette while chatting about turning around, a pink flag across the river caught my eye.  Maybe the trail continued across the river?  I dropped my gear and waded across the river.  It was about thigh high and would probably prove treacherous to cross for most.  Maybe there were some logs to cross up or down the river?  Upon reaching the other bank, I scrambled up the ridge and found a trail to a road.  Turns out we were at the Elbow Creek TH and we had found the Nooksak River!  Funny to think we were 50 ft from our next milestone, and were just about ready to turn around.  I returned to inform my buddy and trudge on. And just like that, the day had turned around.

We jogged up from the Elbow Creek TH to Ridley Creek TH via the gravel road.  This Ridley Creek trail was enjoyable relative to the previous 8 miles.  We made good time getting up the steep switchbacks.  Occasionally the trail turned into skinny little rocky gullies, but at least it was accessible and direct. After we completed most of the gain, the trail flattened out and became quite marshy.  Either waterproof boots or draining mesh shoes would be nice for this section.  That trail eventually dropped us back out to the Mazama shelter where we turned uphill one last time to cross some switchbacks under the Cathedral Crag before rejoining the Park Butte trail and heading back down to the TH.

It took some time dodging all these potholes with my low clearance car. Finally, I made it to the trailhead at the end of FR 38 in one piece. The WTA bridges across the major rivers and creeks work fine. The trail is in good shape especially since on the lower part some trail-angels were working lately. Thank you! On the whole trail I only had to climb over one big log further up the trail. The creek crossings dried out by now. It is a steep climb up to Mazama Park through a nice Hemlock forest and can be used to reach Park Butte. I liked this hike very much although, the Mount Baker National Recreation Area trail from the Baker Lake side to Park Butte is much less strenuous. My hike yesterday lead me to Cathedral Camp 7.2 miles roundtrip and 2200 ft elevation gain with max elevation of 4850 ft.