We hiked the Shannon Ridge trail on a warm, partly cloudy Thursday in late July.  This was our first time on this trail, which is tucked away, far up on the west side of Baker Lake.  The drive to the trailhead was straightforward.  The right turn, up FR 1152, is easy to see because it is just across the road from the sign for Shannon Creek Campground.  FR 1152 is narrow and much of the way sports of center strip of grass and weeds between two dirt tire tracks.  Nevertheless, it is in pretty good shape with only a moderate number of rocky sections and potholes.  With careful driving, it should be fine for most vehicles. 

The trail itself is generally in great shape, although there are a few difficult sections.  Near the trailhead, recent heavy rains have carved several deep ravines across the trail and hikers have to climb down and up the steep sides of these.  None had water in them when we crossed.  From there the trail is in good condition until you reach the steep section about two miles in, when the forest transitions to old growth.  In this section, the trail becomes rocky and is crisscrossed with roots (see photo).  In one long section, a recent blowdown seems to have toppled many of the old firs and hemlocks.  Previous trip reports noted many large trunks across the trail in this section, but we were delighted to find that the trail crews have already been through with their big chainsaws, and every fallen log has been cleared (see photo).  We were very impressed and grateful for this great trail work.  Many thanks trail crews!

Once the trail reaches the ridge, it undulates gently uphill and makes for very pleasant walking.  The views increase the closer you get to the park boundary, so it is definitely worth it to go all the way.  Just before the boundary, the ridge opens up into a broad meadow with an extraordinary view west to Mount Baker.  Unfortunately, it wore a mantel of puffy, white clouds all day, so we will have to come back for that view.  However, the views in all other directions were ample compensation.  We lingered a long time near the NP boundary, just enjoying the wonderful views and the solitude.

We were hiking with a dog, so we could not continue up past the National Park border.  However, the trail looked totally doable, if steep, for as far as we could see it.  We wished that we could have continued on for views of the Sulphide Glacier.

The trail looks like it is heavily used, but we were alone almost all day.  When we arrived at the trailhead at about 10:30, there were six other vehicles in the parking area, but the trail register indicated that only one group was hiking out that day.  We passed these two climbers on their way down as we hiked up.   On our way back down, we passed another pair of climbers on their way up, and one group of three day-hikers. 

This is not a great hike for flowers, but there were lovely patches of foam flowers and twin flowers in several areas through the forest.  The old growth forest in the upper sections is absolutely gorgeous and an attraction on its own. 

Overall, we thoroughly enjoyed our hike up Shannon Ridge.  The trail through the forest is cool and pleasant, the upper areas of old-growth forest are gorgeous, and the views from the ridge are spectacular. 

Road/TH:

Highway 20 & Baker Lake road are in good condition, baker lake road turns into gravel but still good condition. Road up to the shannon ridge TH has some potholes and rough parts but nothing too terrible but something to be aware of. We got to the TH at like 7:30 pm and camped in the back of the car.

Shannon Ridge Trail:

Our intention was to c2c Shuksan via the sulphide glacier route. We started at 1 am from the TH. The trail is easy to follow for the first 3+ ish miles. It gets tougher for a minute as little cat trails go to campsites. It was easy to navigate on the way down in the light but being in a cloud & dark was difficult. Some brush here and there on the trail but nothing bad being in shorts meant some stinging needle :( We made it up to the edge of the glacier where we decided to stop and wait to see if this cloud would pass... it would come in and out but never fully went away. We decided to call it as the three of us weren't super comfortable with navigating the glacier through a whiteout. Then we moved back down to the TH. Another group was coming up as we went down but never saw any sign of the other 5 cars at the parking lot not even in the register.

Summary:

It ended up being an enjoyable day with two new friends. Would've loved to summit but between just meeting each other & all 18 or below there was no reason to try and risk anything. So I can't report on the shape of the glacier but people are climbing this route pretty frequently according to the trail register. 

I backpacked to the ridge and set up camp before the park boundary. There are 4-5 camping spots along the ridge before the park boundary. There is no camping before the ridge, one area a half mile into the park, and a large basecamp for climbers on Sulphide Glacier.

The Forest Service trail was just logged out so there were no trees to cross. The section between the old road and the ridge was in terrible condition. There were 2 foot deep ruts in places and the tread often consisted of jumbles of roots. The trail desperately needs to be rerouted to improve its drainage.

I day hiked from my camp up to the Sulphide Glacier. I had never hiked on a glacier before so it was an exciting experience. The snow was much less than normal for this time of year so the route to the glacier had only a few small snow fields. The trail in the park is not official and is not well maintained. It was in decent condition but I lost it near the Sulphide Glacier. I found a route onto the glacier and made my way to the basecamp near the SW edge of the glacier. I also walked as far as I safely could northward on the glacier. I eventually came across crevasses as the glacier began to curve downward.

The rest of the climber's route requires the right gear and technical skills so I did not attempt it.

C2C of Shuksan via SE rib and came from Shannon ridge. Road is 4.5mi long of pot holes. Not terrible early on, but aren’t supper fun for most of the road. One guy had a fire going on the side of the road and what may have been a make shift mining operation?… Trail had several blow downs, not too hard to get over, but could use a large saw (gas) and a few hours to remove. It’s gorgeous up there! Go get it! 

Went up from Shannon Ridge trailhead until the trail enters North Cascades National Park.  Going up things are fine until you reach 3900 feet in elevation.  Between 3900 and 4100 there are ~10 big trees down across the trail.  These require a bunch of scrambling to get over; be careful not to twist an ankle.  Also, because the trail is so heavily obscured by the debris, it can be tough to stay on the trail if you are descending at twilight.  I strongly recommend making a GPS track as you ascend so you have something to follow out.

Currently the first big patches of snow start just before you reach the ridge around 4500 feet, though there are smaller patches above 4250.  The trail along the ridge is about 80% covered in snow.  Once you reach 5000 feet, just inside the park, it gets steeper and the big snowfields start.  That's where I turned around.