Railroad Grade

We drove up to Mt Baker National Recreation Area to hike the Railroad Grade Trail, 7 miles round trip with 2,000 ft of elevation gain. A bit over half way up we put on our microspikes as the trail was quite slippery.

 The trailhead is the start of 3 trails. There was good signage along the trail, making it very clear which way to go.

 Fun to see part of this trail is along the Pacific Northwest National Scenic Trail.
This bridge is near the beginning of the trail.

 view from the bridge













We had a brief glimpse of Mt Baker as we hiked through a meadow.

 Survey Point rises up from the meadow along the trail.
In the morning the trail was a mixture of frost and ice, in the afternoon it was muddy.

The suspension bridge is removed every fall, but we were able to cross Rocky Creek on this tipsy board.

 some icicles along the trailside

 About 2 miles up the trail we began to reach the open meadows and view of the peaks to the west of Mt Baker

 Up to the split in the trail, the snow was well packed down, as we continued along the Railroad Grade Trail, there were fewer and fewer boot prints.

 In the morning the snow was very firm and we did not post hole.

 Looking across the meadow to Park Butte and the lookout on top

 zoom of the lookout on Park Butte













The top of that ridge below Mt Baker is the trail

 I found the snow covering most of this narrow trail a bit intimidating, this was a slow portion for me.

 We only saw one set of footprints before us on this ridge, and later met this hiker on her way back. She was the only other person we saw on the Railroad Grade part of this trail today.










So happy we choose this hike today, gorgeous views! And so quite and serene. We were blessed that the winds did not start until we were almost back to the car.









Pano from Park Butte to Mt Baker:

Pano view to the south, Glacier Peak in the far distance:

 zoom of the Easton Glacier on Mt Baker

 I was even slower hiking down this ridge.











near the end of the ridge, looking back up towards Mt Baker and the gathering of clouds.

 Frozen pond below Mt Baker