Lake Ann, Mount Baker Highway, 7.19.23
I’ve had a slow start to the hiking season this year, at least as far as mountain hikes are concerned. While I got in some great hiking in Joshua Tree and Death Valley earlier in the year, it just took me awhile to get going once back in the Cascades. Just within the last month though I got out to a saddle below Illabot Peak and summited Mt McCausland near Stevens Pass. Yesterday was my third Cascade hike of the season. With a great forecast, Neighbor Greg and I left early for Mount Baker. We have both done an extensive number of hikes all around Mount Baker but for some reason, the Lake Ann hike has eluded us until yesterday.
Mt. Shuksan from Picture Lake
The trailhead for Lake Ann is past the Mount Baker ski area just a bit before getting to Artist Point. The hike is a little more taxing than the stats would show. On most hikes, you hike up until you get to the end point and then you hike back down to the trailhead. The Lake Ann hike starts out by dropping down 940’ into a valley. Along the way your brain keeps reminding you that at the end of your day you still have to ascend this stretch on the way back.
Starting in forest you drop down several switchbacks and then the trail opens up into a nice meadowy area where we got our first views of our destination. This first part of the Lake Ann Trail is part of the 1,200 mile Pacific Northwest Trail (PNT) which runs from Glacier National Park in Montana to the Pacific Ocean on Washington’s Olympic Peninsula.
Mount Shuksan with the trail leading to the saddle above Lake Ann.
At the bottom of the descent into the valley is a junction with the Swift Creek Trail which is also part of the PNT and descends to Baker Lake. For Lake Ann, we crossed Swift Creek and began a steady ascent, with ever expanding views as we gained altitude.
Beautiful Mount Baker across the valley
Approaching the saddle above Lake Ann with the summit of Mount Shuksan looming behind
Now above the treeline, we finally reached the saddle overlooking Lake Ann. The lake sat in a bowl a little over a hundred feet below us. It looked inviting but Greg and I both thought that a higher vantage point might be a better choice. Rather than drop down to the lake, from the saddle we turned south and climbed up onto a long ridge that gave us a tremendous vantage point overlooking the lake to Mount Shuksan. It was a fairly easy ascent up onto the ridge following a boot beaten path along the spine. At the top we startled a ptarmigan. She made a big commotion and hopped right onto the trail, a sure sign that she was sacrificing her own safety to distract us from her babies. And sure enough, from every nook and cranny, maybe ten tiny little ptarmigan babies all began scurrying around us. Mama steered them towards a snowfield just off the trail where they eventually dropped over the hill to safety. I wish I had a video of all these little baby ptarmigan running along the snow. They were too fast for a good photo but I did manage to get one of mama.
Mama ptarmigan on the snow
At the highest point on the ridge we settled down for a lunch break. It was a really warm day but he had a wonderful breeze up on the ridge which not only kept us cool but kept any bugs away. The scene laid out before us was sublime. Lake Ann was right below us. There was only one party down by the lake and two ladies even took a long swim, although I suspect the water had to have been mighty chilly. Across the lake, the awesome southern face of Mount Shuksan rose high above us, with the upper and lower Curtis Glacier adding to the spectacle. It was one of the better lunch spots we’ve been to in awhile.
Mount Shuksan and Lake Ann from the ridge top
Mount Shuksan and the upper Curtis glacier
Nothing like two ugly mugs to ruin a gorgeous scene
In typical fashion, Greg and I decided we needed to do some further exploration so a circumnavigation of the lake was in order. We hiked down to the end of the ridge but found it looked easier to simply drop down the front of the ridge on rocks and heather to the shore of Lake Ann. From there we made our way to the lake outlet, crossed over the outlet and then worked our way past several nice camp spots back to the trail that led up to the saddle where we had veered off up onto the ridge.
Beautiful campsites are nestled in the trees near the lake outlet
Greg at the lake outlet
Once back at the saddle, we usually can say “It’s all downhill from here” but on this hike we knew better. A rocky descent led us back down to Swift Creek and then a hot slow ascent got us back to the trailhead. It was a great day to be up in the mountains.
Looking across towards the trail leading back up to the trailhead
Creek crossing just before the uphill slog