After working a glorious night shift and taking a quick nap, we left Bellingham, coffee in hand, and headed east. Forest Service Road 38 was in good conditions with only intermittent potholes and clear cuts. We parked at the Elbow Lake trailhead and hiked the 1.5 miles or so to the Ridley Creek trailhead. The Ridley Creek trail was steep, but in nice conditions. As we approached Mazama Park, more and more snow covered the trail, but it was easy to follow. Parts of the trail in Mazama park were overflowing with runoff making it impossible to not get shoes wet. Our lunch of sausage and cheese made me feel like I was back in Switzerland hiking over the pass into Chamonix! The views were stunning of both Baker and the Sister Range. The trail to Bell pass was another story. Being on a north facing slope it was somewhat hard to follow at first after the shelter at Mazama Park. With some more creek crossings and breaking through small snow bridges we were successfully on our way. The trail was overgrown and trees had fallen across the trail at an annoying frequency. Bell Pass was covered with snow and soggy, so our plan to camp there was abandoned. We braced for more tree obstacles as we made our way down to Elbow Lake for the night. The hike out was nice, but there were still a lot of downed trees. I would definitely do the hike up Ridley creek again, but probably not to Bell Pass or Elbow Lake. Or I would just do it as a long loop in a day; taking my pack on and off to climb under trees gave me flashbacks of playing Life and Death in the forest as a kid at Camp Orkila, and I was always Death in the forest....

My boyfriend and I decided to camp at Mazama Park for my birthday last week. The road leading to the Ridley Creek trailhead is well maintained with just a few potholes, all trees have been cleared from the road and getting to the start of the trail was a breeze. Almost immediately the trail leads to a rivercrossing, with a small, well-maintained log bridge (and rope handle) that is in great shape right now and easy to navigate. Once we started ascending the trail on the other side of the riverwe encountered multiple sections of downed trees. Some are quite large but it's fairly easy to climb over or under these obstacles- there were a couple sections where the wood and bark debris covered a significant portion of trail, but it was easy to find again with just a little searching once you're through the wood. The weather was intermittent on the day we went. It had rained quite a bit the two days leading up to the hike but was fairly clear the day we went. There were multiple drainages to cross along the trail, but even with all the rain the water wasn't very deep in any of them and crossing only required some strategic rock hopping :) There were also a few small streams crossing through the trail itself that I don't remember being there when I hiked this trail last summer, but they posed no problem other than wet shoes. You will ascend a section of switchbacks and can enjoy "peek-a-boo" views of the Twin Sisters through the trees as you climb. Once we reached the top of this section and headed toward the meadow we ran into quite a bit of snow. There's probably a good 2-3 ft of snow covering the trail for the last 1/2-3/4 mile leading to Mazama Park. If you're not familiar with the area it could pose a bit of a problem as the trail is difficult or impossible to find at that point. There are a couple significant snow-covered drainages to cross which were relatively easy. Just watch for areas where the snow is melting out from the bottom up (usually due to water flow underneath) because you can take an unexpected plunge through a weak layer and end up wet during the creek crossings! There is also a steep section you have to climb up to get out of one drainage, but there were quite a few good roots and rocks to use as steps and handles. We were lucky enough to encounter gorgeous, sunny weather once we reached the top! The meadow is completely snow covered but thankfully there is a small wooden shelter that is melted out and perfect for setting a tent up in! The meadow boasts gorgeous views of Baker, Park Butte, the Black Buttes, and the Twin Sisters. Park Butte lookout tower is also in view and wouldn't take very long to hike to from the meadow, but we bypassed that for the day due to all the snow. If you brought snowshoes or skis/skins you could enjoy a lovely day of touring around the area. It started raining heavily on us overnight, which made us appreciate the dry shelter even more. It was a great birthday camping trip! If you choose to hike this trail right now just be ready to get a little wet and dirty- and bring gear to help you through the snow. Happy trails!

Forest Service Rd 38 was in good shape with only a few handfuls of pot holes that could be mostly avoided. Right after the log-in station, the trail seemed to go in two directions. Stay to the right and head down to the Middle Fork of the Nooksack. The one-log bridge with handrail was still in place and made the stream crossing a snap. It is doubtful that the bridge will remain after a high run-off event, though. The trail started with a short steep climb up some switchbacks and then leveled out to a mostly gentle climb. The trail work by the WTA is evident and the trail was mostly in good shape. Many large fallen logs had been removed from the trail. The removed logs were large and we didn't envy the crews that had to use hand saws to cut them (the trail is in the Mt Baker Wilderness). There was one recently downed tree that was easily circumvented. Several spots on the trail had been eroded badly by run-off or stream capture, but the tread was not too bad. After passing some huge fir and hemlock, yellow cedar started to appear as the trail leveled off on a traverse towards Mazama Park. There were several ups and downs on the traverse as the trail crossed several (mostly) dry streams. After the crossing of a dry tributary to Ridley Creek we went through a nice looking blueberry patch that was, unfortunately, all spent. After passing a boggy tarn, the trail crosses Ridley Creek itself. It was dry, but during snow melt and high run-off, this crossing and the one preceding it would be very difficult. Back on top after the short steep climb, the trail intersects the Bell Pass Trail in Mazama Park. We headed to the shelter, had lunch while a flock of red crossbills entertained us. While using the outhouse, we enjoyed the views as Park Butte loomed over us and Baker, Easton Glacier and Cathedral Crag showed themselves off to the north. On the way down, we saw a glass electric insulator about 25 feet up a large fir. We suspect it is a remnant from a telephone line to the Park Butte Lookout, Mazama Park or maybe even the line that went up to the top of Baker for the original Mt Baker Marathon in 1913. Elevation gain was 1800' and round trip distance by GPS was 7.5 miles,

I really enjoyed going up this trail. We made it up to the trailhead and subsequently up to Railroad Grade with very little difficulty. There were no bugs, and the hike was snow free. Have pictures on blog post.

Our party of two (+2 dogs) got a late start up Ridley Creek trail, starting at about 11:30 am. It was a cloudy day and we anticipated rain, but luckily it was mostly just condensation the whole time. The trail starts up a gradual and wide trail, then crosses the river over a well built single log bridge. Our larger, dumber dog took some convincing to go over the bridge, so if you have a dog that is too big to carry, this bridge could be an obstacle if they are resistant to heights. The trail then jogs back and forth at a moderate steepness through beautiful forest until you turn away from the sound of water and start actually climbing. After the switchbacks up to the supper slope, there is a series of creek-made ravines that have soft and slippery trails up and down that were unpleasant to hike in the blanketing clouds. Once you go past the ravines, there is a nice meadowy area that would probably have some nice views if you weren't socked in like we were. After a few hundred yards, the meadows give way to massive fields of berries - both huckle and blue - so delicious! The quantity of ripe berries was of an overwhelming magnitude. We stopped for a late lunch at the Mazama camp with it's robust shelter and decided to head back when we couldn't see Park Butte from about 200 meters away except for one 20 second period where we could see some blurry trees... not worth it. The work done on the trail is fantastic and it was a pleasant walk the whole way except for the ravine crossings. Nice new route to get into the Park Butte area.