Heliotrope Ridge

Hike: Heliotrope Ridge
Date Hiked: August 7th, 2006

In three words, Mountains, Waterfalls & Wildflowers. Ok, if you count that "&" as a word, that's four words. This hike was both one of the most amazing and frustrating hikes of the season. Amazing beauty, frustrating because we weren't able to cross the last creek and missed out on the view of the glacier. Big Bummer.

So, we found the trailhead just as described. This hike featured some amazing views of waterfalls as you hike through the forest. In addition, after about 2 miles you start to catch some glimpses of Mt. Baker and the Coleman Glacier. We found what we guessed was the "Kulshan Cabin" site (2.0 miles) although if you're expecting to explore some "ancient ruins" of an early settler cabin, you'll be disappointed...(granted, we did not explore the area much).

At 2.2 miles there is a junction...stay "straight" (left) to go on an "easy stroll" to an overlook of the Coleman Glacier. From here on the views are amazing! However, what we found was an impassable creek. We spent about 1 hour hiking up and down along the water's edge, hoping to find a way across...and to be honest, we probably could have made it but caution won out and we stayed on this side. A few people we ran into made it across but one group confessed it wasn't safe and another group had gators, trekking poles, and were obviously a little more experience then my wife and I.

To overcome our disappointment in not making it to the glacier, we decided to go back a few hundred feet and take the "climbers route." That was a great decision! Although steep, (and note that this trail features loose footing in lots of places), a very short hike up the climbers route reveals an startingly better view of Baker then what you can see from lower elevations (see first picture up above).

This hike was amazing in beauty, but if we were to do it again, we would leave earlier in the day than we did. The water levels were still high and one of the creeks we crossed on the way, (about 2:00 PM), forced us to get wet on the way back (about 5:00 PM). Still, as you can see from the pictures, this hike is well worth it.

Other notes: the hike spends about the first 1.5 miles hiking through a forest that was very 'buggy.' Bring some bug spray or plan to get bitten.