Two Girls Roving: Day 5 – Baker Lake

Two Girls Roving: The tale of a 16 day, 3522 mile road trip to the Pacific Northwest in celebration of my friend’s college graduation! Follow along for all the shenanigans through thousands of miles, eight National Park Service units, night after night of camping, and even some coastal backpacking!

August 27, 2024

Our trip was planned around a lot of “go go go,” with a different destination each day except for our two nights on Baker Lake and two nights in Bend, OR at the end of the trip. Honestly, it was nice to not have to get up and break camp on this morning! With a rainy day setting in, we had a slow morning when we awoke. Originally I had wanted to hike up to the Park Butte Lookout, but with the weather we searched to searching for something a little less crazy. With the Baker River Trailhead just a few minutes down the road from our campsite at Shannon Creek, we loaded up the rain gear and some snacks, and headed out on our unscripted adventure, aiming to just hike for as long as we felt like it and see what adventures we could find.

The Baker River Trail leads all the way into North Cascades National Park and Sulphide Creek. However, after about a half mile, we reached the Baker River suspension bridge, and the Baker Lake Trail. Hoping to catch some glimpses of Baker Lake through the trees, we turned onto Baker Lake Trail.

Baker Lake Trail is a 14.5 mile one-way trail that meanders along the eastern side of Baker Lake. Several backcountry campsites are located along the trail (we passed several backpacking groups during our hike, so definitely a popular choice). On a clear day (aka not the day Janice and I had), spectacular views of Mount Baker are present, and even Mount Shuksan peeks out a bit. Our non-plan plan was to go until Janice decided we should turn around!

The trail gently switchbacked up a short hill (the elevation gain on this hike was negligible compared to what we dealt with a few days prior on Maple Pass) to Hidden Creek. A whimsical, curvy bridge awaited to carry us across the roaring cascades. Definitely a highlight of the hike!

After just about 4 miles (okay, at 3.9 miles), Janice made the call to head back. We had already done a much longer hike than I was expecting, so I was more than happy to start heading back (why do flat hikes hurt me so bad?!).

Soon after we turned around and started heading back, the rain began falling hard. While we had light off and on rain the entire hike, this was drenching rain that came nonstop. Rain jackets were donned (we didn’t fuss with our rain pants, just choosing to be half way) and we scurried through the forest without much stopping or talking. As the saying goes, there’s no bad weather, just bad clothing choices! Rain jackets meant the hike was still enjoyable. In fact, it is just magical hiking in the Cascades in the rain!

In total, our elevation gain was 915 feet and mileage around 7.8 miles (my Garmin died after 5.9 miles sadly, and so then I had to start Strava on my phone and the files are just always different between an iPhone and a dedicated GPS device like the Garmin). We spent a total of 4 hours, which was not a bad way to kill a rainy day in the forest!

Back to camp we went, changing out of soggy leggings and into warm, comfy clothes. Warm lunch and tea were made and we retreated to the tent until the weather began clearing. In the evening hours the clouds moved out, and we were treated to views of the mountains surrounding Baker Lake that we had missed the last day, including Mount Blum to the east.

Though the weather was kind of crummy, Janice and I still had a wonderful day at Baker Lake! Time to settle in for a good night’s sleep, as the next day we would be saying goodbye to the Cascades and heading west to the islands, waters, and forests of the Puget Sound and Olympic Peninsula!

Travel states, facts, & things with no context from Janice and I:

• Just a few minutes of driving from our campsite to the Baker River Trailhead
• 0 NPS units visited
• There is no bad weather, just bad clothing choices

Accommodations for the night:

• Shannon Creek Campground
  • Site #2
  • $34/night, $68 total for our stay (2024)
  • No cell service (Verizon)
  • The good:
    • Vault toilet across from site, and clean
    • Very close to the trailhead for the Baker River Trail
    • Lakeshore access!
  • The bad:
    • This site was not completely flat for a tent, and could feel a bit cramped
    • The sites down by the lakeshore are party central, and we saw a few campfires (when there was a fire ban). We were happy to be further away from the partying, though we were treated to hearing a generator run for over eight hours.
    • We couldn’t find a water source, so might be a dry campground.