Mt. Baker: Heliotrope Ridge Trail – Day 1

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A stunning look at a classic volcano mission on Mt. Baker. After packing our gear, we headed up the Heliotrope Ridge Trail to set up camp, skin up the glacier, and catch an unforgettable sunset descent. While we originally planned to ride from the summit of Mt. Baker, we opted for shorter runs instead on both days 1 and 2.

9:30 – The NF-37 / NF-39 Fork: Reaching the junction of Glacier Creek Road and NF-37. Coming from the west, you’ll turn right off the Mt. Baker Highway, where you’ll see clear signs for each route. Keep in mind, it is 8 miles to the trailhead from this point, not kilometers!

11:25 – Locked and loaded at the Heliotrope Ridge Trailhead. Packs are heavy with overnight winter camping gear, glacier kits, camera gear, and our boards strapped on.

13:11 – The Waterfall: Pushing past the lower forest section. This is a great spot to take a quick breather and appreciate the rushing glacial runoff. I definitely recommend wearing lightweight summer hiking clothes for this forest stretch—it was a hot and sweaty walk!

13:28 – Right after the waterfall, the trail descends a bit to cross Kulshan Creek and keeps losing elevation briefly. From there, it hugs around a prominent, round ridge and immediately begins a steep ascent up the switchbacks at the 2.9km mark.

Once this climbing section ended, we encountered more continuous snow, and it was finally time to put our skis on! We took a long break to transition our gear and get ourselves ready for the rest of the ascent.

14:30 – Time to get the boards off our backs, click into touring mode, and start skinning! Looking back, it was quite a long walk from the trailhead just to reach the snow line, taking us about 3 hours in total.

15:40 – Breaking out of the dense forest into the wide-open sub-alpine zone. The true scale of Mt. Baker finally starts opening up right in front of us. The Hogsback Route treats you to stunning 360-degree views. The unique, wave-like terrain and the massive face of Mt. Baker were such a rewarding treat after that long, gruelling hike through the forest.

17:45 – Pitching Tents: As we came up the route, there were some dry patches in the vast snowy landscape below Heliotrope Ridge. We decided to pitch our home before gaining too much elevation in order to establish a dry camping spot.

19:21 – Chasing the Evening Light: The sun was still high enough for some turns above our camp, so we decided to have a sunset riding session nearby. In the spring, the terrain has more 3D features from the melting snow, which makes it so much fun to ride down the slope. Kenji and Tomoki headed up while I located myself to shoot photographs.

20:20 – Sunset Drop-In: Tomoki dropped into a warm, alpenglow wave of spring snow with the stunning backdrop of Mt. Baker towering behind him.

Kenji followed him back down to camp, riding through a gorgeous orange light. It was one of those special moments that you can only truly experience in nature—when all the elements align perfectly. I feel so incredibly grateful to the mountains and to my friends for a day like this.

21:12 – Back at Camp: The mountains fall into darkness with a final kiss of sunset light. It’s such a beautiful moment. While the riding is probably the highlight of the trip for many, this quiet transition is what I truly love most. As we say goodbye to the sun, the memories of the day replay in my head, and I look over to see my friends staring west with thoughtful eyes.

22:00 – Dinner Time: This is another truly precious part of any outdoor trip. Some would even say that meals are the only true form of entertainment on an adventure mission! We cooked up a delicious meal of pasta and hot soup to fuel up for the night.

It felt like an endless night filled with laughter and empty dinner plates. Soon enough, we headed to our tents and fell into a dreamy sleep under a blanket of alpine stars.

23:41 – Gearing down for the night with camp looking directly towards a beautiful, moonlit Mt. Baker.

Continues…