Scott Paul Trail — Sunday, Jul. 16, 2000

North Cascades > Mount Baker Area

When we reached the parking lot for the Park Butte and Scott Paul trails, we discovered a sign informing us that the first part of the trail was closed since the bridge over Sulphur Creek had been destroyed and a new bridge was being constructed. There are bypasses for both trails. The Park Butte trail is temporarily located down the road and over the snowmobiler's bridge. The Scott Paul trail begins beyond the toilets, although the sign for that had faded so badly you can hardly see it. We set out knowing that we probably would reach too much snow to continue, but hoped we would at least be able to get to the ridge at two miles. The day was gloriously warm and clear and the views were great even in the parking lot. There were small patches of snow almost from the beginning of the trail, but these were inconsequential until we reached the first large snowfield at about 4000 feet. But bare trail followed and so it went for a while, alternating trail with snow. Then, at 4200 feet the snow was continuous and the trail disappeared, except for a few very faint footprints, which we followed all the way up to the ridge. It was very hard going and we had to be careful that we didn't lose our way. There is one section where there's quite a bit of blowdown and a few red ribbons guide you around it. It took us two and a half hours to make it to the ridge--a trip that usually would only take about an hour. The view from the ridge was spectacular: Mount Baker on the left and Mount Shuksan off to the right--and all the peaks around it--truly an awe-inspiring sight! The hike down was harder than going up, and I really struggled at times to keep my footing. At one point I lost it and found myself falling down about ten feet into some trees. I was happy when we finally reached bare trail again. I would think that this trail won't be melted out for a couple of weeks. After we returned to the parking lot we decided to take a look at the re-routed Park Butte trail and walked it as far as the first big stream (about a mile). The beginning section over the snowmobiler's bridge is rough and muddy, but it does its job. The meadows are beautiful, as always. I look forward to returning in a few weeks to do the Park Butte trail. (There were quite a few cars in the lot--evidently, everyone was on the Park Butte trail. We didn't see anyone the whole day.)