Trip Report: Heliotrope Ridge Trail; Mt Baker National Forest, WA

Today we took hiked the Heliotrope Ridge Trail at Mt Baker.  I'm posting this to help future hikers/skiers/climbers plan accordingly because I wish that we had read an accurate trip report before heading out.  Don't get me wrong, we had a nice hike, but a few tips would have helped our planning.

Total trail distance to the ridge was 5.5 miles round trip, total elevation gain of ~1,100 ft.  This was our first trip to Baker and it was beautiful.  We read a trip report from last week and there were people skiing down, so we brought our skis and boots in hopes that we'd be hiking up and skiing down.  We pulled into the parking lot and saw fellow snow-seekers with skis and boots on their packs so followed suit.

Well, instead of skis we should have packed microspikes or even crampons.  The trail was VERY icy and there were a few precarious waterfall/stream crossings.  So fellow hikers, take my advice and come prepared for all conditions, especially ice.  We made it up to the ridge and back safely, but not without a few slips and even a few minor falls.  It started snowing when we were up at the ridge, ~5,000 ft and snowed the whole way down to the parking lot.  Supposedly they got 3 inches total today.

All in all, it was a fun day and I definitely got exercise carrying my skis and boots up...and back down the trail.  If you're hungry on the way out of town, stop at Graham's.  It looks like a typical bar-type place so I assumed it would serve hamburgers and the standard fare, plus we were in a little mountain town so my foodie-hopes weren't high.  I was totally wrong.  I had delicious leek soup with chipotle sauce and grilled polenta cakes and veggies with a balsamic reduction and sauteed spinach.  Will had a lamb burger with goat-cheese and red-pepper relish. YUM!