An early season overnighter to Sulphide Camp was worth it just to get out again after a winter layoff. The last gravel section of Baker Lake Road leading to the trailhead was bumpy as expected. The parking lot is treacherous - lots of snow and standing water - watched a Jeep Cherokee 4WD get stuck in the middle of the lot. Stay to the extreme left and skirt the edges to avoid trouble! Trail is still very much under snowpack. Mostly hardpack ""Cascade Concrete"" but we did have a couple sections where we postholed. About 3-4 easy creek crossings plus the snow left most of us with wet boots and socks by the time we got to Sulphide Camp. One section about a mile in has 3-4 large trees down on one of the steeper sidehill sections. You'll have to go under and over here. A few other sections have thin limbs dangling across your path. Nice view of one of the shoulder ridges of Shuksan. The suspension bridge at the north end of the lake is in fine shape. We didn't go over to the Baker Lake trail. There are at least 2 places on portions of the trail (higher above the lake) in which it looks like slides may be forming. There are cracks in mid-trail. Either of these may create washouts in the trail this year.

Great hike and one of the few you can do right now (kind-of). You'll have to do 3 miles of road walking/running/ or cycling first. The washout at MP 23 on FR 11 is impressive but very easy to get over. With a bike you'll need a hand. Baker River trail surprisingly withstood the deluge. A few downed trees-and lots of outwashed areas, but really nothing too difficult to get around. The bridge at Lake Creek is half-buried in silt. The crossing is easy-you will get your feet wet-but it is very easy to get through. I was able to get out on the gravel bed on Sulphide Creek for an excellent view of Shuksan. Lots of bear track and some big scat. Had the whole darn place to myself (and the bear of course!)

Headed out to the Baker River / Baker Lake on Sunday, 4/15 in an attempt to check out the Noisy Creek Fir, a supposed nearly 14 foot diameter Douglas Fir (biggest in Cascades I think) that resides a little ways up Noisy Creek. Baker Lake Road is washed out approx. 3 miles before trailhead, as previously reported. The washout is reasonably simple to get around on foot, and the road has no significant obstacles, quite a few downed trees though. The initial part of the trail, before the suspension bridge, has one pretty bad blowdown, but it's getting pretty well traveled and is far from impossible. The big expensive suspension bridge is still there, thank goodness, and so is the bridge over a side creek closely afterward. Only problem is that it appears that creek jumped its banks during the flood, so there is a big dry creek channel right after the bridge. Not really that big of a problem since it's dry. After a mile or so of good trail, while still backtracking along the river, the trail confidently shoots right into the river's current channel... The trail is gone. I bushwhacked along the bank for at least a good third of a mile without any luck. It's not terribly difficult bushwhacking, and the trail may reappear eventually, but at the time being, the east shore of Baker Lake and Noisy Creek is most easily reached with a boat of some kind... I did not continue up the Baker River past the suspension bridge, but I did talk to a couple who went to Sulphide Camp and said that it was reasonably passable with some washout and blowdown difficulties. No disappearing trail syndrome though from what it sounded like. Looks like it's going to be a difficult few years.

Beautiful as ever, but be aware that the road is washed out about 3 miles from the trailhead, adding mileage to the hike. The stream which washed out the road was passable on the day we were out, but later in the spring might prove difficult. Lots of passable blow down on the road and trail. About 2 miles in on the trail, the trail is significantly washed out, with a couple of streams finding new courses and covering a fairly large area with gravel/sediment (at least one bridge out). The trail where it runs right on the river bank has also been washed out in a couple of places. We were able to pass through these areas w/o problems but again later in spring this could require fording. We made it to the point where the trail heads west of the wetland, close to Sulphide Camp, so did not make it to the Camp.

BAKER RIVER 5/20/06 How low can you be and still be in the mountains? We never broke 1000 ft but our hike in the Baker River Valley of North Cascades N.P. was definitely mountainous, we just didn't ascend any of them. They were all around us. My Mountaineers group of new hikers arrived at the trailhead at 9:45 am, under gray, drizzly skies with fog. At first it got wetter, then it got better. Rain stopped at noon, clouds rising with some views and sun by 2 pm. We hiked an alternate route, rather than trail #610 (east bank) because shortly after we started on 610, we came to the crossing of Blum creek and turned back. Too much rapid, deep water, too high and scary a narrow slick log bridge. The old sturdy wide bridge is now useless since the creek changed course a few autumns ago and cut a new course about 200 yards away. The old bridge remains over a rocky DRY stream bed. So we hiked up 606, the Baker River trail, to Sulphide Camp where trail ends next to Sulphide creek.. The Baker is a short mighty river, fed from the snows and glaciers of Mt. Baker, Mt. Shuksan, and several other N.C. peaks. The ancient forest in this valley is one of the best in Western Washington. On This rainy, cloudy day, the forest and river were our scenic high lights. The trees are very big, Western Red Cedar and Douglas fir. Forest flowers were plentiful and some were outstanding. Flowers seen were: Salmonberry, Elderberry, Solomon's seal, Starry Solomon's seal, Canadian dogwood, Queens cup, Tall yellow violet, Wild strawberry, Bleeding heart and Foam flower. A tall 200 ft waterfall to north, was seen on our return after the fog lifted. Some of the cedar, on the lower trail, were 8 feet in diameter. Many 250 ft. and taller firs and cedars surround the trail. All the new trees down on the trail this winter had been cut and cleared (logged out). There was only a little bit of mud and solitude was 100%, til 2pm, when we met a scout troop coming up. The only bad thing all day was Bill's flat tire. We had a little wildlife, a nice shy frog and a tiny brown toad. No bears or signs of bears. Some of my new hikers had bear anxiety. It was a nice group with two experienced Mountaineers who had hiked with me before, 5 new people and one experienced guest from the midwest. Once the clouds lifted, we could see the snow line around us, between 3000 and 4000 ft . The high trails are still snow hikes, as expected, after our snowy winter. Statistics: 5.5 miles; 500 feet gain 57 degrees high temperature 900 ft high point 110 miles from my north Seattle home Robert Michelson Seattle Mountaineers