Skyline Divide — Wednesday, Aug. 8, 2001

North Cascades > Mount Baker Area

Beautiful trail. We hiked up 4 1/2 miles to the meeting of Skyline Divide with Chowder Ridge. This was well worth the extra time to keep going to the end. You can continue on past this point, but we chose to stop for a break on a peak and turned around. The first two miles are forested and very buggy. The black flies and horse flies didn't even notice our bug spray. I would probably invest in extra crazy strength stuff or do this hike at a different time of the season. The next 2 1/2 miles are all on the ridge with fluctuating hills and dips. The flies were still bad, but better with a breeze. The trail itself is in very good shape. Definitely bring sunscreen as there is no shade once on top and lots of water for the same reason. We also found a Green Trails map of Baker helpful in identifying glaciers and neighboring peaks. Good luck!