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These are great trails with truly world-class views!
The forest roads to the trailhead are unpaved, but we saw multiple sedans at the lot. There are some minor potholes right before you reach the trailhead but just take it slow.
We reached the lot around 6:15am, and there were tons of spots. One bathroom was stocked, and the other was out of toilet paper.
From the trailhead, the trail weaves through the forest. There are two river crossings. The first one has small logs for crossing, the second has a ladder-type bridge. Both were easily navigated on the way up. With the hot temperatures and snow melt, when we headed back in the afternoon, the water was significantly higher and faster, and we saw a lot of people needing assistance to cross, especially on the log bridge.
Around the 2 mile mark, the trail splits for the lookout and railroad grade trail. We opted to do the lookout first and headed to the left into wildflower meadows. Great views of Baker along the way, as the trail gradually ascends with views here and there of the lookout. Getting up into the lookout is a bit of a very short scramble but the views of Baker, the surrounding peaks, and the lookout itself are amazing. We took some photos before heading back down to the trail split and this time heading up railroad grade.
Railroad grade starts with some stone steps up to campsites with great views of Baker. The trail dips down momentarily before coming back up onto the ridge. We saw tons of marmots along the ridge basking in the hot sun (check out MaoVador's trip report for photos). We followed the ridge up past many of the campers making their summit push and hung out on a ridge just above where hikers enter the glacier. The views were incredible. We had a quick snack before heading the long trek back to the car.
Unfortunately, the berries along much of the trail were not yet ripe.
Stats: 12.87 miles; 4495 elevation gain; 6 hours 57 mins; 2.7 avg. mph
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