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Trip Report    

Backpack - Baker Lake

a shoulder season backpack (mentored leader trip for me) - we made the most of a weather window to catch some fall foliage & camp by a scenic lake & we hike out in snow.

Janette Powell Janette Powell
November 06, 2022
  • Sat, Nov 5, 2022 — Sun, Nov 6, 2022
  • Backpack - Baker Lake
  • Baker Lake
  • Backpacking
  • Successful
  • Road suitable for all vehicles

  • The road to the trailhead is in great condition until the final FS road (a few potholes, but none were large & easily managed with attentive driving.  There was evidence of prior snow at the roads edge on a small section of the baker lake road some miles  before the final FS road. We were the only ones in the parking lot (everyone arrived by 9.30am). It was around 32F at the trailhead, slight drizzle & we opted to take in some dry firewood knowing the temps would hover around this for both days, the maple grove campsite has fire pits & there were no current fire restrictions. 

    The trail was in good shape, except for a few patches of trees downed that started at .75miles in from the south trailhead. We wondered if these were from the ?prior days storm. These obstacles required some care & thought to navigate over (the slope incline & forest precluded an easy walk around). There were numerous water crossings - mostly step over, some required a few steps on small rocks & all the bridges were in good shape.  There was consistent findings of branches down & tree/leaf debris on the trail (likely from the day prior wind & rain storms). The water flow in Anderson creek was impressive.

    We took a short diversion to check out Anderson point on the way out to Maple Grove - there are some great sites & nice vistas here - many of the camping pads were fully water logged & the more southern facing sites had more wind exposure. If you wanted a short 2 mile backpack, this would work for that.

    We started to get some sunshine as we moved on from Anderson Point to Maple Grove (approx 2 miles further on. We had a few more logs to step over (some were quite large) - but the bulk of the downed trees were before Anderson Point.

    The trail back was intermittently covered with snow (between 0-4 inches), with the depth varied over & over again - plenty of small trees & shrubs were heavy with snow & draped across the trail (poles were useful to remove the snow & watch the branches spring back to life away from the trail).

This was our plan B & we got lucky that the weather window we had been watching all week for this locale held (there was a large atmospheric river (with wind) the day prior & overnight Saturday we anticipated rain (maybe even low elevation snow). We were keen to get out there one more time, hoping to see some fall foliage (maples), overlook a scenic lake & if lucky get some big peak views.

We took a short diversion to check out Anderson point on the way out to Maple Grove - there are some great sites & nice vistas here - many of the camping pads were fully water logged & the more southern facing sites had more wind exposure. If you wanted a short 2 mile backpack, this would work for that.

We started to get some sunshine as we moved on from Anderson Point to Maple Grove (approx 2 miles further on. We had a few more logs to step over (some were quite large) - but the bulk of the downed trees were before Anderson Point. The Maples were prolific at the grove - at times the trail was carpeted with their leaves.  We chose a beachfront site, more northerly in the camping area. We set up camp & raised a large tarp (covering as much of the table as we could - using tree's, so not perfect coverage). After lunch we opted to explore the beach front - both north & south of our campsite, checking out the lake vistas in both directions & the tree stumps (the lake water level was quite low, so lots to explore).

Once we returned to camp it was time for hot drinks, early dinners & we got the campfire going. it was a great evening of conversation & fire/smoke dancing before retreating to our tents around 7:30pm. We noted how lucky we had been - a relatively dry day (sprinkles on & off all day, but no drizzle or rain).

Rain started around 3am, it sounded like large drops but when we got up (between 6 & 7am) it was noted to be wet snow! (we were grateful for the tarp). The wet snow continued as we had hot drinks & breakfast & as we pulled down camp. We were on the trail headed back around 8.30am. The trail was snow (between 0-4 inches), with the depth varied over & over again - plenty of small trees & shrubs were heavy with snow & draped across the trail (poles were useful to remove the snow & watch the branches spring back to life away from the trail).

on returning to our cars - there was about 4 inches of snow on cars & on the road. there were already tired tracks on the snowed roads & while were wrapping up & getting into our cars 3 more trucks passed by with snow mobiles on their back.  This made it easy for us to drive on the fresh snow.  We stayed in visual sight of each other until we were back on 1-5.

This shoulder season backpack was delightful - all participants had an impressive depth of experience both backpacking & in cold conditions.