eastbound on the Mount Baker Highway
- This trail is labeled as High Divide Trail on OpenStreetMap but is more commonly known as Excelsior Pass Trail. The signage along Washington State Route 542 uses the name Excelsior Trail.
You know, I have repeatedly defended President Bush against the left on Iraq, even though I think he should have waited until the U.N. inspections were over. I don’t believe he went in there for oil. We didn’t go in there for imperialist or financial reasons. We went in there because he bought the Wolfowitz-Cheney analysis that the Iraqis would be better off, we could shake up the authoritarian Arab regimes in the Middle East, and our leverage to make peace between the Palestinians and Israelis would be increased.
Bill Clinton, Interview with Time, June 2004
Washington Trails Association
- Hiking Excelsior Pass via Nooksack River (wta.org)
This trail is a staircase of switchbacks that march ever upward through thick forest to deliver hikers to an iconic ridge walk in the North Cascades. Starting out just off highway 542, this easily accessible trailhead is situated low in the Nooksack Valley but leads to the heights of Excelsior Pass. The Damfino Lakes Trail is a gentle alternative; it lacks the grueling terrain on the trail and the 14-mile drive to get to the trailhead was very well restored in about 2022.