An Early Spring Hike Snow Hike on Church Mountain Trail

Mar 31

Hey hey! This is the story of a spring hike and left behind snowshoes at Church Mountain in the Mount Baker - Snoqualmie National Forest. Have you been hiking through knee deep snow? Tell me about it in the comments.

Spring arrived in Washington last week and with it came sunshine and mild temperatures. With the forecast of clear skies, we dug out our hiking boots and set off for Mount Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest with the goal of getting to the meadow below Church Mountain. We debated carrying the snowshoes- the trail reports from the previous weekend had indicated they might be helpful, but no one else had used them. In the end, we opted for the simplicity of not carrying them and packed only our micro-crampons in our backpacks.

The first two miles of trail follows steep switchbacks through a dense old growth forest. The trail was littered with fallen branches and pine cones indicated there had been very little traffic- human or animal.

About 2 miles in, snow gradually began to coat the trail and after about 2.5 miles, all footprints stopped indicating the turn around point for the previous adventurers. Thanks to the beautiful weather, we pushed on through the snow, following the map and contours of the trail. We soon entered the meadow, a wide expansive bowl rimmed by evergreen trees and rock face. Snow was deeper in the open area and we found ourselves sinking deep into the snow and wishing for those snowshoes.

Peek-a-boo views of Mount Baker were visible through the trees. And despite the overcast sky, the deep snow stood out on the mountain, outlining the ridges and shape of the rock below.

Knowing the far end of the meadow offered an opening with a view of Mount Shuskan and Mount Baker, we made our way across the meadow. We were met with a deep ditch created by running water, blocking our path to the other side. Had we just brought the snow shovel, we could have built steps down and back up again. In hiking, there is always one more thing that you could have carried.

We took this as our turn around point, grabbing a quick snack which enjoying the views a little longer. Spring hiking is the perfect reminder that it’s more important to enjoy the journey than it is to reach the destination.