Stats
- Distance: 6.6 miles
- Vertical: 2169 ft
- Duration: 4-3/4 hours
- Weather: Sunny and warm; no wind
- Takeaway: I had not done this hike before having heard it compared to Mt Si in the past (which I definitely do, but mainly for training purposes). Maybe I unheard the comparison? It might have similarities in access (being close in), but the comparison really stops there. This hike is incredably scenic and offers big views. I would like to return for sunset (last night must have been incredible with the significant haze to the west). Fall color is abundant but has not yet peaked; if we get some sunny days in the next two weeks, the trail should remain good.
We were camping on the Mountain Loop highway over the weekend and needed to decide on a hike. This hike seems iconic so we decided to give it a try, a tad against out better judgement given that it was a weekend and this hike is so popular. (sorry, Foggy Lake... hope you will wait for us before the weather turns). But... we packed our patience, and we finished the day thinking this was a great choice and enjoying ourselves immensely.
You can find Pilchuck Road just past Verlot (right turn). This was my first hike this year on the Mountain Loop, and I was surprised at the condition of the road. It is a pothole farm (worse than the road to Bandera recently)... for quite a distance at that (bumper crop!). I would recommend clearance. We actually had fun on the road with clearance and a 4X4, but we could see others were not having as much fun (dude in the Telsa... OMG). I admit we did not scout out the location that much in advance, and we parked at the first obvious sign of people congregating. Ummm... that is the Heather Lake trailhead, and you have about 3.5 more miles to go to get to the Pilchuch trailhead. Doh! After securing a half decent spot too :) No worries... the lot up at Pilchuck is actually quite large and although we started around 1pm, there was lots of space.
The trail was... busy. Like I said, we packed out patience and took it in stride. No worries. There is a sign at the beginning of the trail warning about the roughness of the trail and the number of search-and-rescue calls. I guess this is mainly because the trail is so close in (?). The trail is not exceptionally rough in the grand scheme of things, and one would really only need to worry about trail finding skills. But... should the fog layer roll in, all bets are off and that is defintely a possibility heading into fall, so having GPS is probably a good idea.
The trail starts in an open forest with large trees, reminicent of the PCT north out of Snoqualmie Pass. You eventually breakout into a granite wonderland punctuated by blazing fall color. This reminded me so much of hiking in the front/back country of Sequoia NP - just beautiful yesterday. You can see the lookup up on a ridge far above you - this is the destination, although I was in little rush to get there while drinking in the beautiful surroundings. Why have I not done this before? Why was I so surprised? This was no Mt Si hike in dense second-growth forest (my apologies to Little Si, which is a very distinct experience and not at all a slog through boring forest).
Eventually you follow the trail to the base of the lookout, with a bouldering climb up the final 40+ feet. This was tricky with my camera hasness, but other than that a straightforward scrambly with no real exposure. A ladder gets you the last bit of the way to the lookout balcony, What a unique fire lookout!! I use "perched" here in a way that you not able to say, Fremont Lookout at Rainier. This lookout is "perched" on a rocky narrow ridge, and when you circumnavigate the balcony, there are steep drop offs on all but one side (that side with an opening to allow one to further explore the ridge, with a bit of exposure). One can also go inside, but it was busy, so I elected just to hang out on the balcany.
The views are wondeful, with a "who's who" of peaks from Baker, to North Casades NP, Glacier Peak Wilderness, Alpine Lake Winderness and down to Rainier. Whoa! Very nice. A little hazy, but that would have made for a really nice sunse. There was not as much new snow on the higher peaks as I had expected given the fresh snow I encountered earlier this week at Rainier. A little hard to capture on film due to the distance and wideness of the panarama. Everett and the Salish Sea are spread out to the West. What a great "perth"!! I need to return and spend the night. Other hikers indicated this is a great location for star gazing, and to capture the aurora borealis. Of couse, one needs to hike down... and it IS rocky,
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