Fossil Mountain by Church Mountain Lookout perches over Mount Baker Highway. Excelsior Peak sits near the east on the same ridge. Moreover, the straightforward climb shares the same approach as the former lookout.
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Fossil Mountain at a Glance
Access: Church Mountain Road (NF-3040)
Round Trip: 10.1 miles
Elevation Range: 2313′-6080′
Essential Gear: microspikes, snowshoes, helmet
GPS Track: available
Dog-Friendly: yes
Playlist: Keep Moving
Return to North Fork Nooksack River
Holy moly! It’s been over 12 years (and a zodiac cycle) since we last set foot (and paw) on this trail. At that time, Cooper and Cody joined me on a cloudy climb to the former lookout site. I vividly recall going through fresh powder in the meadows under the gloomy weather.
I returned with Connor this time, with Fossil Mountain being our focus. We drove up the night before and slept in the empty lot. Then we began shortly after sunrise, three hours earlier than last time. The register past the entrance showed several recent entries.
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South Route to Fossil Mountain
Church Mountain Road (NF-3040) was free of debris clear to the trailhead. My only concern was the dip at Fossil Creek, one mile before the parking lot. With enough clearance, I slowly crossed over shallow water. Somehow, I didn’t recall this from the last time.
The relaxing half-mile walk on the roadbed soon climbed steadily over tight switchbacks for the next 1000′. At times, the dense forest gave glimpses across the south. As the trail rounded the ridge at 4400′, continuous snow quickly replaced the dusting of powder.
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Upper Basin to Church Mountain Lookout
With microspikes, we followed boot tracks over the icy trail for half a mile to the clearing. Then, since Connor hadn’t been, I decided to visit the old lookout. South vistas, including Mount Baker and Shuksan, appeared as we continued in firm snow on the south slope.
Meanwhile, I noticed recent ski tracks replacing the boot paths through the meadows. We returned to the trees past the snowy Deerhorn Creek into the upper basin to the south ridge at 5600′. The direct line soon put us at the bare rocks below the top under a snow arête.
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Exploring Kidney Lakes Basin
From the lookout, Church Mountain didn’t look prime-time ready, at least not for the dog. But I wanted to peek at the route and drop into the lake basin below the north. Soft snow en route was too messy for snowshoes, so we inched toward the east saddle in boots.
Despite seeing cairns, steep snow over the exposed south face was sketchy and unsafe to cross. For now, we’d stick to our plan for Fossil Mountain after returning to the lookout for more vistas. This time, I even saw the west peak poking out from behind the main summit.
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Fossil Mountain via Upper Basin
After snowshoeing back to the basin, we turned upslope above 5000′ before veering east and up another 400′. Walking briefly on the mild ridgeline soon brought us to Point 5576. After savoring more views, it was only half a mile more to our second stop.
While on the ridgetop, we saw more snowmobile tracks in Canyon Creek Basin. En route to the saddle, I noticed even more of them across the west face of Fossil Mountain. By then, the snow had softened but wasn’t slushy over the final 200′ climb.
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Viewing Mount Baker Wilderness
Scoping out Church Mountain took up most of our time. But at least there was a lot more daylight now, with sunset past 8 PM. Woot! Many familiar peaks included Mount Larrabee, American Border Peak, Tomyhoi Peak, and Barometer Mountain.
Rather than retracing our steps, we dropped steeply back into the meadows west of Point 5576. After joining the trail by the clearing, we were soon back in the trees. Shortly after, we met the first people, Willow and Christian, on their way to camp in the basin.
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