Monday, August 03, 2009

Baker's Delight!

The picture in Harvey Manning's 100 Hikes North Cascades for Boulder Ridge is an uninspiring photo from the trailhead. No other guidebooks mention Boulder Ridge. Trail reports from various sources mention a scary rope climb, killer mudholes and brush and lots of bugs. I left it out of my Day Hiking North Cascades Book because of all of that negative publicity. Boy, was I wrong to not check this place out earlier. This weekend in the 80 degree sunny weather, Heather and I went up the Boulder Ridge Trail and this is what we found:
  • First two miles in old-growth forest is nice trail and a delight to hike
  • Next two miles on climbers path not bad at all
  • one steep section
  • good tread and no route finding needed
  • no mosquitoes just some biting flies down in the valley
  • mud holes minimal but could be a problem during a wetter year
  • Brushy in spots but just huckleberry bushes-I wore shorts and came out with no scratches
  • the scary rope-it is there but only if you want to continue on a mostly climbing route
  • You'll get plenty of scenery and excitement beforehand making for a wonderful 4 mile journey
  • You can explore the moraine up to the snout of Boulder Glacier without any climbing concerns
  • There was nobody here! How many people do you suppose were out at Artist Point, Skyline Divide, and Park Butte. Yep, hundreds!
  • This hikes is definitely going in a future edition of my Day Hiking North Cascades Book
  • Get out there and enjoy it!

1 comment:

Crzydazy said...

OH! I've been wanting to head to Mt Baker and just couldn't figure out where. This looks so pretty!