Kick back & relax
New lodging choices at Mt. Baker

By Jack Kintner

The growing popularity of the Mt. Baker region has resulted in ever-greater choices of accommodation. Here are five great bed & breakfast places to stay that have not been previously reviewed by the Mount Baker Experience.

Mystic Inn at Silver Lake

Linda Dorset and Chris Babin’s Mystic Inn is tucked away on the eastern shore of Silver Lake directly across from Steve and Linda King’s King’s Way Inn. The road in is safe but a tad rustic as it twists and turns along the lake shore, setting off their three-story house like a sculpture on a field of forest green. You feel like you’ve just discovered something secret and valuable, a feeling that’s repeated when you walk inside the house and again when you see the lake spread out in front of you from their large and commodious front room.

The single room that’s available for $130 and up is off the front entry and can be as private or not as guests wish. It’s definitely on the quiet side of the lake, so quiet that guests can hear the fish swimming in the lake. Almost.

It’s an ideal place for people to bring a paddle-powered boat they can launch off the front lawn or walk along some of the old logging roads and trails literally right out the front door. If your ears are ringing from too much of the urban hustle and bustle, this is the place.

“We like to say it’s where nature and comfort embrace,” said Dorset, who, like her husband, worked for Eddie Bauer in Seattle for many years. They’ve carried that same kind of understated but elegantly cozy feeling of quality throughout the house. “Sometimes people arrive here with lots of plans,” Dorset said, “but then they’ll come back to their room and never come out. It’s a good place to hide.”
They bought the property in 1989 and completed their 2,600 square foot log house in 2002. They’ve been in business for three years, and with a Jack Russell terrier named Abby they’re also pet friendly for an additional fee. For more information call them at 360/599-2501 or go to www.mysticinn.net.

King’s Way Inn Bed & Breakfast, Silver Lake

Steve and Linda King opened their single unit, four-person capacity housekeeping B&B last summer in the lower floor of what was once Steve’s boyhood home but was later sold. The Kings purchased the house from a Canadian family in 1985 and moved in permanently 14 years later, when they began remodeling the ground floor.

Linda Dorset and Chris Babin, who own and operate the Mystic Inn directly across the lake from the Kings, talked them into devoting the downstairs space into a space that could be used by a small family or two couples. The room is dominated by a large fireplace made of locally quarried Shuksan Stone, the same stone used at the exclusive Canlis Restaurant in Seattle, and has a complete kitchen set-up. It’s just a few feet off the beach and within walking distance of the quiet side of Silver Lake County Park.

Pets are welcome for a $10 additional charge, and the rate is $149 for two including breakfast. There is a two-night minimum.

Steve’s family moved to the lake in 1959 and he’s a 1965 graduate of Mt. Baker high school, and remembers well when Silver Lake was the private water skiing preserve of just a few families. Linda retired two years ago after 26 years teaching English and reading, most recently at Nooksack Valley high school. Steve went on to work in the boating industry for Evinrude and later for Olympic Boat Center, but was happy to see horsepower restrictions enacted in 1973 as it quieted the lake significantly. He still gets out on the water in various kinds of paddle-powered watercraft and a pontoon boat that chugs around the 180-acre lake at a sedate pace. His local background gives him an encyclopedic knowledge of area history and wildlife.
For more information call them at 360/599-2690, or go to www. kingswayinn.net

Dislodge at Mt. Baker

Todd and Weeg Simmons’s five-acre meadow sits right on Cornell Creek, a healthy and vigorous stream that would be called a river were it not so close to the larger Nooksack into which it drains. Their B&B sits in the middle of the meadow like a rustic but inviting red farmhouse and can accommodate eight in three bedrooms.

They’re well-located at milepost 32.7 on the Mt. Baker Highway but set far enough back that it’s easy to enjoy the quiet and peaceful setting without distractions. The meadow is big enough for a full-blown soccer game and there are a lot of trails and special places to explore.

The Simmons said that most of those they host are there for the skiing and boarding 17 miles up the hill at the Mt. Baker Ski Area.

Conveniently for those whose ambition is a little beyond their ability or for those who just know how to enjoy a slice of the good life, Weeg Simmons is both a licensed massage practitioner (LMP) and a registered Bowenwork practitioner, a kind of non-invasive procedure – it even works through clothing - that focuses on the nervous system. “Applying Bowenwork immediately after an injury greatly speeds up the healing process,” Weeg said. She is building up a spa business at the B&B while maintaining a practice at Mt. Baker Bowenworks in Bellingham during the week. Todd is an engineer at Heath Tecna.

Pets are welcome with a surcharge, and their rates are $175 and up with a three night minimum on holiday weekends. For more information call the Dislodge at 599-1852 or go to www.dislodgeatmtbaker.com

Mt. Baker View Guest House

Teachers Jim and Julie Evangelista and their two boys, Mattias and Micah, live in the heart of Glacier, a block behind the town’s main street, aka the Mt. Baker Highway. While their teaching jobs take them out of town – she teaches kindergarten in Kendall and he teaches high school science in Sedro Wooley – they are as rooted in the community as anyone and the best couple you can find to teach you about the area and what it offers.

Their house was built in 1910 when Glacier was in a lumber and mining boom, and by the time the couple bought it in 1988 it had become the Christmas Year Round Inn with a store on the main floor and guest room above. They operated it for a year but then closed it to raise a family.

They built their two-story B&B facility, the Mt. Bakerview Guest House, five years ago behind their house on Central Avenue. It sleeps six people in two bedrooms and includes a full kitchen, a hot tub and a large room on the main floor that’s given over to a pool table, ping pong and foosball, and outdoors they have a combo basketball/pickleball court. For a small fee pets are allowed. They also handle rentals for four other facilities, ranging from a loft cabin for two to a large house that can sleep 15.

The guest house is at 6920 Central Avenue. To get to it turn north off the Mt. Baker Highway just by the Mt. Baker Ski Shop and, because Glacier’s so compact and because the place has a sign on the wall with letters three feet tall, you can’t miss it. Call them at 360/599-2155 or go to www.mtbakerviewguesthouse. com.

Glacier Creek Lodge

Chelsea and Carl Roberts moved to Glacier last summer with their son Richard to take over management of the Lodge, which changed hands last year. The main building next to the parking lot is the manager’s house and, on the main floor, the room where they serve continental breakfast for guests in 14 cabins (with kitchenettes) and a nine-room motel unit. Pets can be accommodated for an additional $10 per night. It’s the best place for large groups to stay while enjoying the area’s year-round recreational possibilities and is one of the few places to offer on-site fishing.

That’s because the location, at 10036 Mt. Baker Highway or milepost 34, is in a grove of towering maples on what guests discover is an island between Gallup and Glacier creeks, both of which have resident trout as well as some salmon spawning activity, especially Pink Salmon in alternate years. It’s an enchanting place to wander around and the Lodge is an easy walk to local stores and restaurants as well as to the Glacier Interpretive Center, once the local Forest Service ranger station.

Chelsea Roberts grew up on a farm in the mountains of southern California, and guests are fortunate that she’s in charge of the continental breakfast served to all guests from 8:30 a.m. to 10:30 a.m.
For more information call them at 360/599-2991, or toll-free at 800/7190-1414, or go to www.glaciercreeklodge.com.

Snowater & Baker Accommodations

Snowater is a townhouse condominium development just east of Glacier, surrounded on three sides by the north fork of the Nooksack River. Two recreational buildings feature indoor swimming pools, whirlpools, sauna and several racquet courts.

One and two bedrooms are available. Call the Snowater Time Share Association at 360/599-2724 or Baker Accommodations at 360/599-9150.

Lodging Choices At A Glance

Aaron’s Mt. Baker Cabins
9434 Cornell Creek Rd, Glacier
360/599-2299
Gas and wood fireplaces, tennis courts, swimming pools and hot tubs
www.mtbakercabins.com

Canyon Creek Chalets
7304 Miller Way, Glacier
360/599-1309, 866/839-5342
Mountain cedar chalets, full amenities, hot tub.
www.canyoncreekchalets.com

Duck Inn Bed and Breakfast
360/599-9944
www.duckinnbb.com

The Glacier Guest Suites
Two, 500 square-foot units with handcrafted wood furniture and views of Mt. Baker and Nooksack River. Located on 100+ acres. No pets.
8040 Mt. Baker Highway
360/599 2927
www.mt-baker.com/glacier.html

The Inn at Mt. Baker
Featured in Sunset Magazine
Panoramic views of the Nooksack River and Mt. Baker
Gourmet breakfasts, hot tub, helipad, lap pool, and massage therapy.
8174 Mt. Baker Highway
360/599-1776, 877/567-5526
www.theinnatmtbaker.com

The Logs at Canyon Creek
Log cabins, midweek specials, fireplaces, kitchens.
7577 Canyon View Drive
Glacier Springs, Glacier
360/599-2711
www.thelogs.com

Mt. Baker Getaway Chalet
Full kitchen, cappuccino machine, telephone, wood stove, outdoor barbeque, hot tub. 866/421-8435
www.mtbakergetawaychalet.com

Mt. Baker Lodging
Private cabins, cottages and condos.
7463 Mt. Baker Highway
800/709-7669
www.mtbakerlodging.com

Mt. Baker Vacation
Full kitchen, telephone with free local calls, gas fireplace, deck, pool. $130 and up. Two-night minimum stay.
360/647-7469
www.mtbakervacation.com