Went on a day hike with some friends from work up the
Baker River Trail from the trailhead at Baker Lake Road. About seven miles (out and back) in total including some short detours across the river for some photo opportunities.
I didn't take the DSLR, as we had no idea what to expect in terms of glacial melt, and we wanted to pack light in case the streams we were crossing were swollen. It turns out it wasn't too bad. We were able to cross safely using hiking poles by stepping on large stones others had placed in the streams.
I took a few pics with my phone and GPS (viewed best in full screen or max resolution)
Baker River Hike on ImgurHere is a phone video I took of the Baker River from the Baker Lake Road Trailhead (a short hike out to the waters edge from the parking lot)
Baker River at Baker Lake Rd MP4It was a really nice hike. Filtered seventy degree sunshine and mountain rivers go very well together. It's far enough away from civilization that the trailhead wasn't crowded (although the 25 mile drive up the gravel road was a bit tedious). We only saw a few people up there in the five or so hours we were in the area. The river was beautiful and refreshing just to hang out next to it. The water is very cold, as it's only a few miles removed from the glaciers it's sourcing from. We didn't see much wildlife at all. Just an odd assortment of small critters (a couple of
garter snakes, some kind of a toad or frog (it was pretty big, and disappeared into the dense brush before we got a good look), and some squirrels near the trailheads). No eagles, no deer or elk, no bears , etc...
After we got back to the trailhead, I took my hiking shoes off and dangled my feet in the river. It was really cold, but dang it felt good!
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