Keep Kool Butte

Date: October 11, 2024

Distance: 3km round trip from Yellow Aster Butte trail

Elevation gain: 75m from Yellow Aster Butte trail

Keep Kool Butte is a lesser-known peak near the extremely popular Yellow Aster Butte in the Mount Baker Wilderness. It’s shorter than Yellow Aster Butte and further from the trailhead, but it also offers excellent views of the surrounding peaks, especially in the fall. 

There is a direct trail to Keep Kool Butte from the Twin Lakes road, but it’s no longer actively maintained, and most people seem to access the peak from the Yellow Aster Butte trail instead. Unofficial trails lead from the Yellow Aster Butte trail all the way to the peak.

Andrew K. from the SWBC Peak Baggers Facebook group had recently posted a trip report of Yellow Aster Butte, including Keep Kool as a side trip. I had some time to kill in the morning after Mt. Larrabee and this seemed like a good half-day hike.

Just past the point where the Yellow Aster Butte trail does a 90 degree turn (at around 1750m elevation), a side trail switchbacks down a steep slope to the lakes below the butte. There are several campsites here. A network of unofficial trails meander among the many lakes on this plateau. If you follow trails in the direction of the butte you’ll eventually get there. Past the lakes, a fainter trail climbs up the northeastern ridge to the wide summit.

After admiring the views I returned to the main trail to climb Yellow Aster Butte. I took a slightly different trail on the way back, which went further north among the lakes in the plateau, but still returned to the main trail.