Park Butte 2010

Overview

Park Butte is a textbook Cascade sub-alpine area, set directly across from the SW flanks of Mt. Baker it rises 5,450'
above sea level with low valley footings on the west in the Upper Middle Fork Nooksack river valley. The Park Butte
trail is one of the main entrances into the Mount Baker National Reacreation Area and can be accessed via Hwy. 20,
turn north onto Baker Lake Rd. and proceed to the National Forest boundary. Four tenths of a mile inside the National
Forest Baker Lake Rd. turns sharply east (right) and on the apex is the entrance to FR12, turn left onto it. At 3.6
miles turn right onto FR13 and proceed the final 5.4 miles to the trailhead. The trail itself is four miles long with
the TH for the Scott Paul trail reached in the first hundred feet, you begin in Shreiber Meadows, cross Rocky creek and
switchback moderately through woods passing the other end of the Scott Paul and then emerging into Lower Morovits
meadow at 2.4 miles. Two tenths of a mile farther you reach the junction with Railroad Grade departing to the right,
staying left you will continue across Upper Morovits meadow and gain a ridge with a junction for Mazama Park shelter
on the right and Park Butte left. Now everytime I have been here I personally have never seen the last junction, I like
to show up in early July when the snow still can be found as low as 4.500', reason being is that with such a short trail
I can only assume this lookout is usually spoken for once the trail is snow free.

The Approach

Myself, three buddies, one dog, and five sizeable packs pulled into the Schreiber Meadows parking area on a beautiful
July afternoon. We where fixin for the Park Butte lookout, one I had visited for the first time the year before and
was eager to explore more of the area as soon as possible. Today was the day and it was already after 4pm, it was time
to move. As we passed through the lower meadows we made our way maybe just over a mile from the TH and approached
an old debris flow forcing a forde of the Rocky Creek. It would be a week or two until the forest sevice would put
the Rocky Creek 1 bridge into place, seeing how it was late in the day and the 'Mountain tides' where in full force
we probably spent the better part of an hour looking for a suitable place to cross. Losing a set of car keys, We found
our way across and proceeded into the woods for what feels like just under a mile of switchbacks. Halfway up the wooded
slope snow took over and we followed a mountaineering teams' tracks to lower Morovits Meadow. The five of us broke onto
sub-alpine terrain, still maybe 3' of snow everywhere no trail to speak of except a boot track path obviously leading up
to Railroad Grade. We followed it, and farther than we should have we realized as we passed a small row of trees and got
our first good look at where we where heading. It was 7:45, we had been out of the forest for 15 minutes and we where
already off track, but that wasn't a big deal even after wasting the better part of an hour trying not to get wet. With
decent snow conditions we made our way across a flat snowfield and made our steps up to the lookout itself.

The Summit

Ahh, and with 15 minutes to spare until the sunset we were all feeling pretty clever as we flopped our packs off our
backs and soaked in the feeling to the fullest. Mt. Baker was starting to turn red as we fired up the popcan stove for
some insta-soups, and we discussed our journey up. Group consensus was that if we had not spent the time we had trying
not to get wet then we might have did an 'about face' when we got to the snow laden and trackless upper meadow. Seeing
as that was the first overnighter of the summer I had confidence in myself that with the proper view of the terrain
'just a little farther', I would be able to lead us up there, and thats ultimately how it played out however I do not
recommend that approach. Use sound judgment, Confidence & Competence. The colors of the sunset probably lasted for 2
hours before it was pure starry night and we all hit the sack.

I awoke at 4:45 am, before everybody else and fumbled for my camera. The light was just starting to rise beyond Mt. Baker
as I stepped out onto the catwalk for a better look, it was chilly but the crisp air made for great visibility and with
sharp eyes I could make out the first light on Rainier, with that I rushed inside and announced "Dudes, your gonna need
to see this", soon we where all standing on the east 'porch' naming peaks and by the time the lookout lit up with the
morning sunlight we had gotten quite chilly and literally were yelling as we felt the first warmth of the sun hit us.
By the time the excitement of morning had passed we were packing up, deciding how we where going to get all of us
home with half the cars we started with and closing the shutters for our descent.

The Descent

On the way up, our tangle with Rocky Creek had put us in a rush, every last camera was being clicked upon as we made our
way through Upper and Lower Morovits Meadows and took one long last look at Mt. Baker before we descended the wooded
switchbacks to Rocky creek. Just as we expected as we walked up to the crossing the 'mountain tides' were at it again,
nice and low, easy crossing and to be clear; I have never heard anybody use this term, when I use it I am referring to
glacier and snow fed streams that are at their highest in the evening and lowest in the morning, mountain tides. Upon
reaching the vehicles we left a note on the bulletin board describing the keys my colleague lost how to reach him etc.,
piled the five of us into my little Toyota pickup and made for the nearest breakfast type shop finally pulling up to Mount
Vernons SoupBowl, once a home to the finest breakfast sandwiches in the county, they teased us about our oversized load
(we where in the drive-thru) and sent us on our way. Also, worth noting, somebody did find those keys and returned them
to the Sedro-Woolley ranger station, Hell Yeah!

Images

View Park Butte 2010 Image Gallery - 9 Images