Forum Index > Trip Reports > Baker River Trail, Sulphide Basin attempt, 7/13/02
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Sore Feet
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Joined: 16 Dec 2001
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Sore Feet
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PostSun Jul 14, 2002 6:07 pm 
This little outing has the makings of the next big thing after Troublesome Creek. My goal of this hike was to document the multitude of waterfalls pouring off of the Sulphide and Crystal Glaciers on Shuksan, the main fall of which, on Sulphide Creek, presents itself at over 2000 feet tall. After pouring over the maps and terraserver's pictures of the area, I determined that the easiest route would to be to proceed right up the wide, rocky streambed to the basin. If it were only that easy. My friend and I were camped at Shannon Creek, so after getting up around 9:45 and a quick breakfast, we were on the trail at 10:30. The Baker River trail is really a nice walk. Wide, level, well graded and plenty of things to see. The Baker Lake trail branches off at 1/2 mile, crossing the Baker River on a cool suspension bridge. After the split, the Baker River trail gets a little narrower. At approximately 1.25 mile, Lake Creek is crossed on a delapedated bridge, or rather Lake Creek crosses (over) the delapedated bridge. It's not difficult to get across even when the creek is high, but it's kind of silly looking none the less. Another 1/2 mile along passes a large marshy area, where we passed several people bird / animal watching on the way back. 2 miles puts you at the National Park boundry, marked by a signpost. Pay attention to the forest at the boundary, up to this point, the forest was primarily riparian, but at the boundary, it almost instantly changes into old growth / temperate rain-forest. Very cool. 2 1/2 miles ends the trail at Sulphide Creek and the Sulphide camp. Wandering out onto the flood plain gives you a great view of part of Jagged Ridge and a teeny bit of the Summit pyramid of Shuksan, as well as several huge waterfalls streaming down the mountainside (again, probably in the ballpark of 2000'+). At this point, the idea was to simply hop out onto the wide floodplain and walk upstream to a point where we could see the main falls. HOWEVER, knowing that Sulphide Creek is fed by Shuksan's two largest glaciers, and this being the height of snowmelt season, I should have known that it would resemble a river more than a creek. I wouldn't be surprised if Sulphide added 10% more water to the Baker River at it's confluence. So, since the creek was running so high, it edged right up to the wooded banks all over the place, which forced us to start upstream in the woods. We were fortunate to find a semi-well beaten waytrail leading upstream from the camp area, which stayed relatively obvious for a good distance. So we slogged through the thick brush, which consisted mostly of ferns, devil's club, small fir trees, salmonberry, and a whole lot of other low lying forest floor cover, scrambling out onto the creekbed wherever there was a chance (which really sped things along in a few places), but we were eventually stopped about 3 1/2 miles from the trailhead by totally impassible brush, an unstable slope and an uncrossible Sulphide Creek on all sides of us. I figure we were probably within 1/2 mile of clear views of everything, but I can't say for sure, because the way the valley is situated, the main waterfall can't be seen until you hit the main clearing area at the headwall. Disappointed and disgruntled, we slogged back to the trailhead (a good thing too, because my feet were killing be and my new hikers were giving my heel a nasty blister). So, I shall return in September to make another attempt.

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Forum Index > Trip Reports > Baker River Trail, Sulphide Basin attempt, 7/13/02
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