The newly reopened road to the trailhead seemed long (about 14 miles)and steep, but more likely I'd driven too many miles on similar roads in the previous few days. The trail starts in lovely forest climbing 1400 feet in about 2 miles to open out onto a lovely, grass covered ridge top with knock your sox off views of Baker, Shuksan, American Border peaks and more. It was a lovely, sunny day with just about the right amount of sun. Definitely a day for lying around on lunch box knoll after a very satisfying wander along the ridgetop. When we returned to the very full, hot parking lot, we were glad we'd had an early morning start. Plenty of huckleberries, virtually no bugs, one detourable tree across the trail. This was a really great hike with maximum rewards for very little effort.

Thursday, July 29th - We set out today to hike the Skyline Divide Trail on Mt. Baker and now I know why there was not a single report for 2004 on the WTA site. The road to the TH is closed for bridge repair. Now you know also. Hiked Excelsior Pass/Mountain instead.

No problem with the drive to the trail head, road was in great shape, as was the trail. It never stoped raining and we had low cloud cover, in other words, we did it to get out of the day to day BS. If your thinking it sounded cold you should try the new 4 ply Gore-tex, 3 layer scholer, 950 down filled full body suit. It's called the ""Polar Bear"" by Mountain Hardware.

Another fantastic hike. The meadows along the way and at the divide were blooming like crazy with wildflowers. The trail is in great shape and the views are surely the finest the North Cascades has to offer. My 5 year old was in awe and could not get enough. ("" Daddy,that mountain is really BIG!"") He gave it 2 big thumbs up. The trails beyond the divide were in great shape and clear as far as you can see, toward Hadley Peak. Lots of bugs on the trail, but not many in the divide. Note for you overnighters, there was no water and very little snow that was easily accessable near the divide.

A group from WNPS headed up to skyline divide to see what was growing on a beautiful monday. Still lots of folks up there. The trail is great and short - two miles or so to the meadows and about 1500'. What a bang for the buck! The meadows glow blue, white and gold with lupine, bistort, valerian and potentilla. Awesome views everyway. We could see the smoke from the Colville fire. The only downside was the zillions of bugs everywhere, especially in the woods, but in the meadows too. Fortunately, they didn't bite much but bring the bug juice. Highly recommended for colors and views.