Hiking Mount Ann / Annette in the Mount Baker Wilderness
Contents
Mount Ann / Annette Hike Information
Difficulty: Difficult
Distance: 17.60Km
Elevation Gain: 1,180m
Highest Elevation: 1,780m
Average Gradient: 13.40%
Effort/Reward Ratio: High / Very High
Time Needed:
– Slow: 10 – 12 Hours
– Moderate: 8 – 10 Hours
– Fast: 7 – 8 Hours
Dogs Permitted?: Yes
Season: Year-Round (Winter Preferred)
4×4 / High Clearance Required? No
Scrambling / Exposure: None
Mount Ann / Annette Trail
Trailhead Coordinates: 48°51’42.2″N 121°40’58.3″W
Disclaimer: Winter hiking (snowshoeing) involves significantly more risk than summer hiking. Hikers should be prepared with appropriate education, training and equipment for all possibilities, including but not limited to avalanches. A mistake such as going off trail, getting lost or injured can be far more dangerous in winter than summer. You are responsible for your own safety, and while I am happy to give my opinion on this website as to the avalanche risk of a specific hike, do not take this as fact and please do your own research. Everybody has different risk tolerances and mine might be different to yours.
Mount Ann / Annette Overview
Mount Ann is a summit situated within the Mount Baker Wilderness area of northern Washington, making for a relatively popular ski tour during the winter. There is no official trail to the summit, so summer ascents are quite rare, however there is an established summer trail to the nearby Lake Ann, where hikers can then self-navigate to the summit should they desire, though this would likely involve some bushwhacking lower down.
This route to Mount Ann is the standard winter route, which is an easier ascent with snow covering the terrain. Due to its popularity with ski tourers, there is frequently a well laid skin track leading the entire way to the summit, which at the very least makes navigation a lot simpler. The winter route generally follows the Lake Ann trail to a bridge crossing over Swift Creek, before leaving any trails and climbing up the northern slopes to a saddle between Mount Ann and Annette. Both of these peaks are adjacent to one another, so most people will choose to summit both on the same trip.
Most of the route is in relatively benign terrain, however there are some avalanche grade slopes on the climb up to the saddle, so favorable conditions, appropriate route selection, avalanche knowledge and preparedness are a must. Once on the saddle between the two peaks the rest of the ascent should be mostly simple, with some straightforward navigation around some bluffs to reach each summit. Snowshoes will generally be sufficient for the entire trip, though there’s no harm bringing an ice axe and crampons just in case.
With Mount Ann situated slap bang in the middle of Mount Baker and Mount Shuksan, the views from the summit, and indeed for much of the hike, are stunning.
While Mount Ann and Annette are both year-round objectives, mid-winter to early spring is the best time to go as a deep snowpack makes life much easier. You will likely want to avoid early winter and late spring as the snow coverage in the valley around Swift Creek will be thin, with post-holing no doubt being a real issue. Of course summer is fine if you’re happy to self-navigate through bushy terrain.
This is a dog friendly hike.
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Is Mount Ann / Annette worthwhile?
Mount Ann and Annette offer stunning panoramic views from each summit, getting hikers very close to the jaw-dropping Mount Shuksan. While this hike is a tiring one for sure, the payoff is undeniable. Indeed the Mount Baker area is always a high reward region, with incredible views beginning from the parking lot.
How difficult is the hike to Mount Ann / Annette?
Given this is typically hiked in winter, the stats are fairly demanding for travel on snowshoes. The average gradient is somewhat deceptive as there are several kilometers of the hike through the valley that are flat. Flat ground in snow can often be demanding, especially on the return journey once the snow has had a chance to warm up. Timing is key for how challenging this hike turns out. In an ideal world you’d have a skin track to follow the whole way up, and the temperature will be cold enough that any sinking is minimal. In deep, unconsolidated snow this hike will be exhausting.
Technically speaking the hike is mostly straightforward, especially with a well laid skin track. The climb up to the saddle between Ann / Annette passes through some avalanche terrain, however with good route selection this can be largely minimized to a few short stretches. Most of the time you will not need an ice axe or crampons, however they’re always good to have, especially if conditions are icy. There is no exposure anywhere on the hike following this route.
Mount Ann / Annette Route Information
The trailhead for Mount Ann (in the winter) is from the Bagley Lakes backcountry parking lot. If going in the summer vehicles can park at the Lake Ann trailhead and shave off the first few kilometers of this hike.
From Bagley Lakes hikers will follow the obvious tracks that run adjacent to the ski runs. Usually this is so well trafficked that it’s impossible to get lost, but just in case I would refer to your map for the general direction. The first 1.5km follows the same trail that leads up to Huntoon Point, but once you reach Austin Pass, while most people will continue on to Huntoon Point, you will now descend fairly steeply into the valley below the eastern slopes of Huntoon Point.
The winter route loosely follows the Lake Ann trail at this point, and now you’ll find yourself in some open meadows that gradually descend further into the valley. The views from here are quite nice, with Mount Shuksan coming into view as you progress forward.
The route mostly undulates gradually, but generally you’ll continue descending towards a converging of creeks, the low point of the day. As you descend you’ll soon enter the forest, at which point navigation may become confusing without an established skin track. Often there are a few skin tracks going slightly different routes, but for the most part everyone is going the same way, so I would trust in the skin track but keep an eye on your map for general confirmation of direction.
After around 3km of hiking through the valley you’ll reach the low point and cross a fallen tree over a sizable creek. After crossing another creek or two you’ll begin climbing once again, and soon enough you’ll have a clear view of Mount Ann / Annette and possibly even see the route if there is an established skin track leading up. Take care not to follow any downwards skin tracks as they will generally lead to steeper terrain that you want to avoid on the climb up.
The ascent now begins on an arced, gradual climb to the climbers left following mellow slopes, and after 100m or so of ascending you’ll turn back to climbers right and continue the mellow climb up. At around 1,400m elevation you’ll reach a steep slope and the general route is to cut across it, climbing steeply to around the 1,500m mark. With a skin track to follow this is straightforward, without one you might struggle with sidehilling on a steep slope. Some people may opt to avoid this and go straight up, which will be steep but short lived.
Once beyond this steep slope the remainder of the climb up to the saddle between the peaks is very straightforward in simple terrain once again. At around 1,650m elevation you’ll find yourself on the saddle, with stunning views in every direction. Which peak you bag first is up to you, but Mount Ann would be to the climbers right along the ridge.
Travel along the ridge is mostly simple, just take care with any cornices. There is one annoying spot where you have to drop steeply (but briefly) and it may just be easier to butt slide this section. For the final summit push it is much easier to loop around to the southeast side of the peak and climb up from there, as hitting it straight on would be very steep and likely require bootpacking up, which isn’t necessary. Soon enough you’ll reach the summit, with incredible views of Mount Baker now on display as well as Shuksan. On a clear day you’ll see for miles, with Mount Rainier and Glacier Peak visible to the south, and the Border Peaks, Tomyhoi, Larrabee, The Pleiades and lots more visible to the north.
Once finished on Mount Ann you simply retrace your steps back to the saddle, where you can optionally climb up Annette as well. This only adds another 80m or so of elevation gain, taking very little time to get up. You’ll likely need to navigate around some bluffs but again travel should be very straightforward to the summit. The views from Annette are arguably sightly better than Ann, with an excellent view of Shuksan and a more rewarding view of Mount Ann in front of Mount Baker.
From Annette you can descend back to the saddle, where you can simply retrace your steps back to the trailhead. If you are feeling adventurous you can actually descend back to the valley floor much faster by following the ski descent tracks down, as indicated on the linked GPX above. This covers steep terrain so I’d only suggest it in favorable conditions, but it does shave off a lot of the looped ascent by taking a more direct approach down (plus it’s a lot of fun plunging through steep snow).
Once you’re back at the creek crossing you’re in for the worst part of the day, the long, tedious hike back through the valley, gradually ascending the entire time. In late afternoon sun on a warmer day the snow may now be heavy, wet and exhausting. The climb back up to Austin Pass will not be fun, but thankfully it’s downhill from there.
When should I hike Mount Ann / Annette?
As noted Mount Ann / Annette is primarily a winter objective benefitting from snow coverage. Ideally you will want a deep snowpack to cover the terrain at the low point where all the creeks converge in the valley. Time this wrong and those creek crossing could be hell. With that said January – April are likely the best months to go if you’re aiming for a snowpack, otherwise I’d leave it until the snow is fully melted in the summer.
Top Tip
This will be a very demanding hike without skin tracks in deep snow, so I would try and time it for after a period of days without snow. Mount Baker is popular enough that a few snow free days will usually mean that skin tracks are set along most trails.
I would try to avoid going on a really warm day, such as can happen in spring. While the morning might be fine on the ascent, the afternoon exit through the valley will be exhausting in heavy, solar affected snow.
In the depths of winter you may not see any sun until you reach the saddle between the peaks. The sun is blocked by eastern peaks for pretty much the entire hike in the winter, but in the spring this is less so.
