Much of the hike-trails for the National Forest/Park system in Washington State represents a repeating pattern of “access trail” to “Pacific Crest Trail” and if it is a “day” hike, we walk the same route back to the original trailhead. It all makes for wonderful lasting memories in the great outdoors, but occasionally there is room for trail-creativity in the form of a ”loop” back to the car that can keep the sights fresh for the entire walk, and that is exactly the case for “Scott Paul”. We began the west-loop through Schrieber Meadows and enjoyed the reasonable elevation-gain through the “timber” escalating to views of several glacier-snouts, which were further upstaged by the domineering presence of Sherman, Shuksan and, of course, Baker peaks. Exiting the overlooked decadent trees of yesteryears loggers, I carefully walked the fields of boulders, lovely wildflowers, and frequent flecks of sulfur that, packaged together, was unworldly enough to resemble a Star Trek hollywood-set. The murky streams pulling out of the ice are too unappetizing to depend on, so bring plenty of water for that part of the walk. A part of the walk that is not only in full-sun, but continually present with the above mentioned mountains, as well as multiple peaks and snow-giants to the south, including “Glacier”. These alpine views further include the extraordinary mountain raised-spine supporting the “railroad grade” trail to the west, as well as glimpses of the human-flypaper-like popularity of the Park Butte Lookout. Five or six hours will get most of us through the entire loop of “Scott Paul”, but it might make more sense to be more leisurely about taking in the natural beauty and alpine serenity of a part of the planet that most-folks do not get to see.
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