Back in June I took a small solo camping trip at Baker Lake and had a great time, but I also forgot tent poles and was unable to get one of our inflatable paddle boards blown up. Since I enjoyed the lake though I booked another site for a night over Labor Day weekend. I personally think Baker Lake is highly underrated. It’s turquoise-blue waters rival Diablo Lake with far less people to compete for spots with.

My husband and I went together this time, bringing the tent poles, the already-inflated paddleboard, and a sea kayak. We stayed at the Shannon Creek campground, which is actually on the lake, not the creek. We were at site 18, located about 15 feet from the boat put-in at this camp ground. The Shannon Creek sites have (very mineral-y) well water and waterfront picnic sites, and it is also only about a 10 minute drive from the Baker River Trailhead.

We spent the first couple of hours paddling along the lake. The Panorama Point campground has a few different day use spots that are available for putting in kayaks and gettign out on the water. The view of Mount Baker this time around was stunning. The day was clear and all of Baker towered above. We could see the glacier and snow patches running alongside the mountain’s faces. We had a great time paddling around.