Anderson Butte (Hike)

Mt Baker from the Anderson Creek Road

Sunday, June 14, 2015…

It’s time for a hike!

Since Todd was born over 9.5 months ago, we’ve gotten outdoors with Todd to do lots of active and fun activities:  skiing, walking/hiking, rollerblading, and bike riding.  It’s been great!  But– before this weekend, our hiking was limited to a few stroller-friendly trails (Bagley Lakes, Rainy Lake, Big Four Ice Caves).

Now– it’s time to start carrying him in a pack.  We’ve had our Ergobaby carrier ready for use since before Todd was born.  Testing out the pack in the house revealed that Todd looked a lot more comfortable sitting on my back (compared to Eric’s).

We chose Anderson Butte for this week’s destination because:  1)  it’s within a couple hours driving distance from home, 2)  it’s a short hike (1.4 miles one way), and 3)  it offers spectacular mountain views.

We’ve been to Anderson Butte, Watson Lakes, and Anderson Lakes a few times before– long ago (~13 years ago!)– when we used to do a lot of backcountry skiing.  (The highlighting on our map shows our previous trip routes).

Anderson Butte hike on our Green Trails Map (Lake Shannon – No 46)

The Anderson Butte trail is located just east of Baker Lake (near Mt Baker, WA).  You take Highway 20 and then the Baker Lake Road.  You cross the dam (which has a neat view waaay down the spillway) and then you go a few miles on the gravelly, switchbacking, and sometimes steep Anderson Creek Rd (#1107), to the Anderson-Watson trailhead (Tr 611.1 and Tr 611.2).  The trailhead elevation is 4300 feet.

Anderson-Watson Trailhead

Todd slept in the car on the way to the trail, and then woke up for the hike.  He enjoyed looking at all the scenery on the way up.  The trail is fairly rocky overall, and we do always hike with a pair of old ski poles.  Eric mounted our GoPro camera on one of his poles.  The camera has a nice, wide angle lens.

GoPro group selfie!

GoPro group selfie!

The temperature was perfectly “warm but not hot,” and there was a good bit of shade from the forest canopy. I put a little sunscreen on Todd’s face, but he does still need a proper sun hat.

Elisa & Todd

Elisa & Todd

Family photo

As you can see from the map, the trail gets much steeper after you take the left turn for Anderson Butte (after 0.9 miles).  The views looking to the north/northeast open up once you reach the ridge line.  I’m not sure which mountains are pictured here, but Mt Blum, Hagan Mountain, and Bacon Peak are in the foreground, somewhere.  The Picket Range (Mt Challenger, Crooked Thumb Peak, Phantom Peak & Mt Fury) is somewhere further away.  These 3 pics form a scene from left to right…

View from the ridge

View from the ridge

From the top (5400 ft), you can also see both Mt Shuksan…

Mt Shuksan

and Mt. Baker…

Mt Baker

Todd

Todd & Elisa

Mt Baker from Anderson Butte

We had the summit to ourselves, and Todd was happy to get his hands in some dirt.  He tried his best to taste the various rocks and plant matter.  “Yucky,” I kept repeating.  (I wasn’t able to soak in too many mountain views at the time, or else I’d have risked having a choking victim on my hands.  It’s nice to have these pictures now.)

Dirt loving boy!

Playing in the dirt

Before we headed down, Todd had a quick snack.

A nice refreshing beverage.

Note that we did have to negotiate one blow down on the trail…

Headed down the trail

Blowdown

Blow down negotiating

“I hope she knows what she’s doing”

On the way down from the top, it was clear that Todd was getting tired of being confined, but after a short bit of fussing, he fell asleep for part of the descent.

We got back to the car 2.5 hours after we started.  We kept a leisurely pace.  Our first “real” hike with Todd was a success!

Mt Shuksan