Go as far as your legs will let you and you won’t be disappointed.

(Unless you’re a crab apple or the weather is bad, this is a vista focused hike)

I went TH>Ridge>Notch> Sulphide Glacier>TH in 6.5 hours just shy of 9 miles and 3,800ft RT. Once you hit the ridge the views only continue to get better as you move along the trail. Crisp sunny fall day. I almost didn’t want to write a trip report because I felt like this one was so detailed (Shannon Ridge, Sulphide Point, Sulphide Glacier — Washington Trails Association (wta.org).

Road: Minivan approved. Gravel but minor potholes. It is windy season so I had to manually move two logs that fell over the road. TH has a nice bathroom and trail log. On a fall Friday I was literally the only car there and the only person on the whole hike. It was unreal solitude. I could hear water dripping!

Trail: The WTA description is solid.

TH>Ridge: Super straightforward to follow. Starts with an easy grade and then picks up. Thankfully the trail was completely clear but I bet by next spring some blow downs will be there. I was thankful I had long pants because the upper sections of the trail are fairly overgrown and my pants were wet from the morning dew. Not too many “vista views,” on the way up.

Ridge>NPS Boundary: Boom, let the views begin. Mt. Baker is right there! Enjoy the wander and do make it all the way to the NPS boundary post. That’s the best viewing spot on the ridge.

NPS Boundary > Notch: If your legs can take it, I would recommend making it to the notch, the views GET BETTER! While the trail is still easy to follow it is not an easy trail. It’s straight up with parts of scre. But once you make it to the notch next to Sulphide point you are awarded an awesome view into the North Cascades interior and the picket range that literally had be saying “wow” out loud to myself.

Notch > Sulphide Glacier: This is the fun part. I believe in warmer months the boot path is fairly evident because I was still able to follow most of it with a 1-2 inch dusting of snow that fell last night. There's a few class 2.2 scramble sections, boulder fields, and exposure for the casual day hiker to be aware of but gosh the views are incredible!

Sunset hike to Shannon Ridge, my first time on this trail. It's gorgeous up there and I look forward to returning to spend more time.

Trail: Two miles of gentle warm up in lovely old growth forest, then one mile of a steep slog up rooted and rocky trail (lots of step-ups), then 0.5 - 1 mile of majestic meadow, ridge and views of Mt Baker, the Picket Range, and Baker / Shannon Lake below. The change in terrain underfoot is exciting, though challenging. You can go about as far as you want on this trail - it continues up to Sulphide Glacier / Mt. Shuksan. I stopped at a knoll approximately 100 feet above the National Park Boundary sign and took the photos you see here. It was a perfect resting point and I soaked in the views for an hour as the sun slowly slid behind Mt Baker. Next visit I'll continue on and make the climb up to the notch to see over to the north side.

Road: Overall, Baker Lake Rd and the FS roads are in pretty good shape. The first 1.5 miles of FS road 1152 would be the only problem child for a low clearance vehicle. I think any car can make it driving slow but you'll feel more comfortable in a high-clearance vehicle.

Wildlife: none. (Thankfully didn't meet any big mammals hiking down in the dark).

Stats: I'm not entirely sure. Gaia's distance estimates are terrible. It was approx 7.5 miles and 2400 feet of elevation gain. Moving time was 3 hrs 45 minutes. I spent another 75 mins sitting and view-gazing. So, a total of about 5 hours.

Gorgeous views to the west and south from the ridge. If you continue up the very steep, loose gravel, boot path to the notch, fantastic views open up to the north and east revealing Mt. Shuksan, the Picket range, and other peaks in the North Cascades National Park.

There was plenty of room in the parking lot when we arrived and even more available as we were leaving in the evening.  Many hikers were climbing Mt. Shuksan, but we just hiked to the glacier.

The trail is in the best condition I've seen it in many years. All the fallen trees have been cut or trampled enough to make it easy to maneuver. The trail still is very rooty near the top.

Turned around from high camp at Sulphide glacier. Stinging nettles at the start of hike. Bugs were horrible and they do not let you rest for a moment. Even on the snow! No water sources before you reach sulphide glacier except the ones near trailhead. Cellphone reception was strong 5G/LTE most of the time on the ridge(after switchbacks) all the way to Sulphide glacier but no signal at TH. Highly recommend going to Sulphide point gap beyond NCNP boundary. Carry enough water if not planning to go to beyond sulphide point, I used almost 5+ liters of water. 

This hike is very Sahalesque IMO, you have bunch of switchbacks and consider Sulphide point as Johannesburg and views from Shannon ridge compete with Sahale arm and the views after the gap can compete with Sahale pass where Sulphide point is not below you. Unlike Sahale Camp Sulphide camp is very distributed and the Sulphide glacier is huuuuuge may be 10x or 20x or Sahale glacier. The Baker lake at the bottom has glacier silt which makes it look like diablo lake (early season). Underrated hike considering the amount of views and shorter drive as compared to artist point. 

Road to TH:
There is 9 miles of dirt road after paved Baker lake road ends. There are some great viewpoints along the road of mount baker which I had never seen before. Some spots have deep holes and high clearance vehicle should not have any issues but any vehicle can pass if going slowly.There were two trees down on the road which could be avoided if going slowly. Restroom were open at TH and only 8 other cars parked around 11:50am. 

Th to Ridge:
Just when you begin hike you can see previous washout which has been kind of repaired. You cross several stream many of whom do not have any running water anymore. Last stream where huge pipe under the trail is the only reliable water source before you cross the gap. Mostly flat first 2 miles then switchbacks gains lot of elevation quickly. Lots of salmonberries in this section. Trail mostly in good shape with one big blowdown. Bugs become worse when you gain elevation even with a little breeze they were persistent.

Ridge to NCNP boundary
This is most leisure section of the trail. Relatively flat and tons of views in all directions. Baker lake at the south bottom and mount Baker in full glory on west. Glacier on Bacon, Blum and Hagan on the east makes it for much nicer views as you can see them most of the time.

NCNP boundary to Sulphide point gap
Steep and rough trail. There is one point where you might have to scramble but can be avoided if you stay on left and just hold rocks according to your comfort level. Reached the gap in 1.5 hours and was amazed with the beauty on the other side of the gap. The pickets were now visible along with bunch of other peaks, wildfire smoke from sourdough mountain could also be seen rising. Picket Range has very little snow left. Just pass the gap there is still a big chuck of snowfield and I refilled water from glacial melt. On maps this is shown as starting of the Sulphide glacier but it clearly is not a glacier anymore and might be melting off completely in fall. 

Sulphide point gap to sulphide glacier
There is a big boulder field after the first snowfield. Saw bunch of columbines may be 20 feet from trail below a rock wall. Trail was hard to find at some places so having navigation helps. I spend almost 2 hours in this section but I could not spot Sulphide lake. After the defined trail ended I was mostly following a group of climbers which made going up much faster without requiring too much route finding. Once on sulphide glacier you can see crevasses at a distance. All the mountains on the east put a good show and you have vast snowfield on your west. Some people just returned from Shuksan-Sulphide peak and were high fiving at base camp. Some were just relaxing and preparing for tomorrow. I had my snack on a big last rock enjoyed the views and headed back. 

Getting out of basin:
It was hard to find the trail out of the basin below the high camp. There were several steep drop offs. I had to backtrack my step and climb again because I could not go down from some places. The rocks were very smooth due to the glacial activities from past and could be very risky if wet. In hindsight it might have been easier to come down on the snow as much as possible but I could hear the roaring water underneath at some places and was more comfortable staying on the rocks. I also observed bunch of pools with red water in them but didnt see any watermelon snow so not sure if it was due to algae or not.

Hike back to TH:
Did not see anyone on the way back. Refilled water before dropping down from the gap. You have to deal with thousands of roots as well on the way down reminding you of the drudgery on vesper peak. There were so many cobwebs at the lower section of the trail. Made it back to TH around 5:15pm. Still all those cars were parked which I saw in morning. Hunting season is on since Aug1 so wearing bright colors is recommended.

Caltopo link:
https://caltopo.com/m/D10HU

10+mile RT with around 4000ft elevation gain/loss. Total moving time 5 hours plus 20 minutes for rest and refilling water.