Lake Ann did not disappoint. Breathtaking vistas, meadows, glaciers, and of course the lake. It is…read morerated on the Washington Trails Association as a HARD hike. Approximately 8.2 miles round trip 1900 feet elevation gain, with the highest point 4900 feet. I do recommend getting there early, before 9am, as the parking lot is very small and fills quickly! 4 stars because of the crowds. The trail starts downhill which is a confidence booster especially when you are backpacking. But what goes down, must come up! The last mile is probably what classifies this hike as hard. Hiking up, over loose gravel and boulders and up to almost 5000 feet elevation is difficult for us non-Colorado living people. On the trail you cross many small creek beds that were almost all dried up when we went here at the end of the summer. There is plenty of water at the lake for water source. There are multiple well groomed areas for tents along the trail uphill from the lake. I appreciated these spots at night when the mosquitoes came out and we're a nuisance (only when getting water). Speaking of night... do dress for cold weather! You do get the breeze coming off of Shuksan's glaciers. Very little salmon berries left on the main trail but plenty of huckleberries left. Night time is beautiful. The sky is completely full of stars and the sound of waterfalls coming out of the glaciers is relaxing. No campfires allowed at the lake. Pack out trash and human and animal waste. Trailhead provides blue bags for this.

If you're a hiker: Lake Ann is a gorgeous place to camp! You have sweeping views of Mt Shuksan and…read moreit's cracking Upper and Lower Glaciers. Rushing waterfalls augment the flanks of these enormous sheets of ice. The lake is a deep blue and there is plenty of flat space to find the perfect camp site. If you're a climber: this makes for a LONG summit day. Best to keep moving and camp higher on the peak.

Management is really friendly, helpful, and wonderful. This place has the basics. It's minutes away…read morefrom the national forest, and is a good location for hiking and exploring the surrounding area. We have all the amenities in our class A, so I can't comment on the shower or laundry, but we had a nice stay, enjoyed a campfire, and spent a few days hiking nearby. It's within a couple of miles of a liquor/convenience store, and is walking distance to a really good pizza place. We had a really good stay here. There's a vacation rental property on the same street, so we stayed in our motorhome here, while our friend stayed in a unit across the way (unrelated business, but convenient in our circumstances nonetheless).

Beautiful place to visit, just don't live in the park long or short term…read more Management is so friendly on the outside, just don't get too close or things get really weird. Most tenants stay in their campers and never come out. If they do, they're friendly enough, just realize that this friendliness isn't genuine. We were friendly to everyone there. Planned on growing food for the community and guests and having cookouts together. We started hundreds of plants to get it going, then the resident drunk decided to abuse us and take apart our garden as he pleased, so we decided to move on, as his violent outbursts made us feel unsafe. Such a beautiful place to live and stay, cloaked in sadness and darkness, as the old men who live there, are bitter and unhappy with their lives. It feels heavy and tragic seeing the elderly men, stuck in small campers, as they have limited options. It clearly states in the rules for the park, belligerent drunks will be evicted, that is false. They will be allowed to stay, until they drive out all the good people. My advice, keep to yourself, don't allow yourself to be sucked in and it will be a pleasant place to stay, short term. We were there a year and a half. Just enough time for the true colors to be shown. We would never even visit Glacier again, after our experience.

So long as the roads are reasonably clear, what's not to love about this area! Lots of really easy…read moremini-hikes to explore, gorgeous scenery, and really kid-friendly. When it's not too crowded, the Austin Pass picnic area is a great place to sit down and enjoy any food/drink you've brought with you.

Really helpful staff to guide you with trails. Beautiful views and a mandatory stop when you are…read morehere. The center has beautiful postcards and stickers and magnets and paintings.

We just stayed two nights here in late summer. Very reasonable rates, and comfortable room. Not a…read morestate-of-the-art mattress, but the rest of the gear was fine and worked well. A real log cabin. Full kitchen, plus some plastic chairs, a fire ring, and a year's supply of seasoned firewood outside. The guy in charge, Tom, was great - full of good advice and accessible, and his wife and kids as well. The cabins are in a nice, sparsely populated and wooded neighborhood, within walking distance of a big creek and lots of woods. Good choice for settling in for a while to explore Mt Baker and the small towns on the road in, which include some decent restaurants.

Amazing location. Almost don't want to leave a review so it can remain a secret. Mt. Baker Lodging…read moredid a great job setting us up. Highly recommend, great for families with kiddos 12 and younger.

Snowater and Resorts West Vacation Club: Esoteric Cascades…read moreMountains The genesis for this business/ski trip was serendipitous. A primary professional organization to which I have been a lifelong member decided to hold a membership lottery. I have presented scholarly papers, chaired several committees, served on the national Board of Directors, and certify national higher educational programs for this organization. The national organization prepared a lottery for professors who recruited new members, and I was entered automatically in the lottery. The lottery prize consisted of two coach tickets to any national/international conference anywhere in the continental U.S. Little did I suspect that I would win free airline tickets. I already had papers accepted for presentation at an international conference in Vancouver, British Columbia. Remember the airline tickets were negotiable for the U.S. I know U.S. and Canadian geography. We redeemed the prize tickets for round trip coach tickets to Bellingham, WA. Do you know the location of Bellingham, WA.? Bellingham, WA. is beautiful town located on the Puget Sound, and Bellingham is one and one-half hour south of Vancouver, British Columbia. Nearby is Snowater and Resorts West Vacation Club. Snowater and Resorts West Vacation Club is only a twenty-minute drive to the Mount Baker Ski Area that has an average annual snowpack of 250 inches and fantastic skiing from November through April. Delta quickly redeemed the lottery prize, and we used our Delta Elite membership to upgrade to first class from Dayton to Sea-Tac international airport. Normally Sea-Tac international airport has a hefty cab fee into Seattle, and the rental car drive into Seattle might be an unpleasant experience due to heavy traffic. However, we were able to by-pass this problem because we connected with Alaskan Air to Bellingham, WA. We were somewhat amazed at the quality of service of Alaskan Air. Naturally, we were flying a commuter flight from Sea-Tac to Bellingham, WA. To our surprise the flight attendants were serving free wine to all passengers aboard the flight. I know several large carriers that could learn some lessons from Alaskan Air. Bellingham is a very small airport, and the car rental is a few steps from the luggage area. We always pack our own skis and ski boots for any ski trip. It is too much of a gamble to use rental ski equipment. Following deplaning we were home at Snowater and Resorts West Vacation Club within an hour. The following day we drove to Vancouver, B.C., presented the papers, found a great seafood restaurant for lunch, and returned to Snowater and Resorts West Vacation Club to prepare for nearly a week of skiing. Snowater is situated on the Nooksack River at the edge of the Mount Baker National Forest. Mount Baker is part of the Cascade Range. The Cascade Range is a major mountain range of western North America, extending from southern British Columbia through Washington and Oregon to northern California. Many peaks in the Cascades exceed 10,000 feet, including Mount Hood (11,235 feet), Mount Rainier (14,410 feet). Most of the summits are extinct volcanoes, but Lassen Peak (10,457 feet) and several others have erupted in the recent past. Mount Baker (10,778 feet) steamed heavily in 1975, and Mount St. Helens (8,365 feet) erupted in 1980 and again in 1981. The Cascades are beautiful to view from a commercial jet, from the urban areas, and especially from the ski slopes. The Interval International website does not do justice to the interior and exterior beauty of Snowater and Resorts West Vacation Club. The cedar siding of the townhouses blends in with the mountain forest. Check in required minutes, and there is absolutely no confusion in locating the specific condo. The kitchen is very functional, as is the cookware and plate ware. The dining room and living room are comfortable. The fireplaces are essential for the ambiance of a mountain retreat. We had a two-bedroom unit, and the master bedroom is very usable and comfortable. We had plenty of room to spread out our skis and all the ski apparel. The window seats with the extended large windows permitted the outdoors to merge with the condo. Snowater and Resorts West Vacation Club is at an elevation of only 1,000 feet. This meant that it was virtually spring at the condo, but winter at the Mount Baker Ski Area. We were able to find provisions nearby. There are a few restaurants in the area. Our holiday focused on intense skiing, and we were pleased to prepare most of our meals at the condo. Following an exhaustive day of skiing, the Snowater and Resorts West Vacation Club sauna, hot tub, and heated pools were beneficial to tired muscles. We transitioned from a mountain of snow to a national park setting in spring conditions in a few minutes. Often in Centerville, Ohio, we might receive eight - thirteen inches of snow overnight. My snow blower will clear the driveway and sidewalks in less than an hour.

Mt Baker Maids is amazing! Annamarie has been cleaning our airbnb cabin rental up near Mt. Baker…read morefor the last 5 months and has done a great job. Many guests note how clean our place is upon their arrival. She is great at communicating, never misses a cleaning and goes above and beyond to help us if issues arise or if we are low on supplies. We highly recommend Mt. Baker Maids.

I've taken multiple courses through Guided Exposure over the last couple of years, including AIARE…read more1 and 2 and AIARE Rescue Course, and have been thoroughly impressed with the depth of knowledge and quality of learning experiences. Jere, Jess and recently Katie, are professional, welcoming and exceptionally skilled in avalanche training and rescue. Class sizes are intentionally small for meaningful one on one instruction, and usually two instructors are involved for even more individualized guidance and support. Guided Exposure strongly encourages avalanche education, emphasizes back country safety and offers a wide range of courses to meet learners at every level. Additionally, guided services are offered, locally and abroad. Jere is well traveled and has experience guiding in numerous places. The website has a list of future trips while stopping by the office offers even more trip options and hype! I'll continue using Guided Exposure for continuing education and trips. It's hard to beat the camaraderie, expertise and skill-based learning offered here.

I was looking for places to stay to hike Ptarmigan Ridge trail in Mt Baker Snoqualmie National…read moreForest. I think Glacier is one of the closest towns. The website is archaic - maybe a relic of the 90s. You have to apply to book a room. You type in your credit card info. And then you'll get a confirmation back that it was booked. This happened relatively quickly. You pick up your keys at 9 chairs, the pizza restaurant right next door. The restaurant closes at 9 but they can accommodate after hours check ins. The room was clean. There's a small balcony as well. The wifi was very bad. There are 3 options and one of them worked better than the rest. There's no cable, just a stack of DVDs. We could hear our neighbors, but the sound died down around 9 or 10. Check out was easy - we just left the keys in the room. Blue T Lodge is a good option for the area.

Ok so...this place is awesome and, after disregarding some of these reviews and spending 4 nights…read morehere this past week, I can say with no remorse that some of these other reviews seem like some big ol' "Karens", to me If you want to call the lodge, it's better to dial the phone number for Chair 9 (the restaurant that's basically attached to the lodge). There are only 6 rooms and it's sort of a secondary business, owned and operated by the Restaurant 5 feet away.......its that kind of small town. Google said 147 people but the locals swear they're closing in on 200 now So in a place this isolated, I was thrilled to find a spot with super cute rooms, a restaurant and a vibrant bar...when the rest of the area doesn't even have cell phone service, Uber, grocery stores or public transportation. This place is an Oasis, is my point. It is the closest place to trails/slopes where you can get WiFi... which is important because, again, you won't have cell reception. It's also the closest place to find a bed and a roof over your head, a beer and/or a Jameson, pizza, nachos, wings or the occasional live band. I ended up staying here for 4 nights because my backpacking trip got screwed up due to the Bear Creek Fire and an unexpected lightning storm. The restaurant/lodge staff welcomed me in like I had known them for years. They really went above and beyond for me. I ended up just doing day hikes in the area during the days and hanging out at the Chair 9 Bar with their rockstar staff, the handful of half-crazy (but very sweet) locals and all the other tourists every night. It was a nice consolation prize for mother nature ruining my 90 mile, 7 night backpacking plans. If you're a hiker, snowboarder, photographer, mountain climber or wilderness lover (if you're not, then why would you come up here?), then this place is your launching point into the North Cascades and Baker Wilderness. You will meet like minded, alpine enthusiasts and may even get a room next door to a professional mountaineer who invites you up a glacier with them (like I did ). The rooms are certainly nicer than I was expecting for an area so off the grid. I forgot to take a picture I stayed in #2 and #1 on different nights. The downstairs units have small, open patios and the upstairs units have balconies. Both up and downstairs have views straight into the surrounding forest. It's really pretty. There's also a swing out back made out of an old ski-lift chair. Is this place in the middle of absolute nowhere? YES! TAKE THAT INTO CONSIDERATION. Usually when I venture to obscure mountain or desert locations, I have to stay at whatever crappy motel or campground happens to be closest...not up in this area. You've got an awesome spot with a fantastic staff...treat them with kindness and they'll bend over backwards for you. I'll be back up in the winter. I hear the snowboarding is awesome.