This hike has been on my list for years. A beautiful sunny day with my daughter in tow made it the right choice today. We chose to hike from the south; the road is in good condition but closed just past the trailhead.
The hike is an easy stroll among old growth trees with everything decorated in moss. The fog cleared as we started down the trail and the sun rose higher. Mt. Baker and its namesake lake were within a filtered view as far as we were able to make it.
The first few creeklettes are easy to step over or have bridges. Further along the trail though the creeks become more troublesome. At the first big washout is a pile of logs and debris from a recent landslide. The bridge is completely gone but the creek is barely a foot wide, and a muddy path navigates around it (picture 2). The next big washout has what's left of an unusable bridge but again a path to navigate around it with a little hand and footwork (picture 3). The third big washout is at Anderson Creek which was raging across several channels (picture 4). There are some large logs which could be scooted across but not by us. We had passed two backpackers coming south and they did it with large packs so it's doable. Instead, we had a snack and a drink and returned to the car.
We really enjoyed this hike. 2.8 miles with 368 ft. of gain.
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