Mount Forgotten, Perry Creek — Sunday, Jul. 5, 2020

Lovely hike up to Mt. Forgotten meadows. Trail is snow-free until ~4800 ft. Meadows are completely snow-covered.

It was our first day of nice weather in a while and a holiday weekend. I have never seen so many cars on Mountain Loop. Arrived at the trailhead (shared with Mt. Dickerman) at 1 pm and there was one available parking spot. For anyone wondering about the old trail indicated on some maps, it is heavily overgrown. It was my first time on this trail, so I thought I might be able to park further west if the main parking lot was full and take the old trail/road, but I'm glad I didn't try to do this.

The trail is generally in good condition up until the snow line, with some large trees to climb around after the main stream crossing. The stream crossing was not a problem. I passed 17 parties on my way up, 5 of which were after the main stream crossing. After the notch/viewpoint at 4900 ft, getting to the meadows requires navigating over snow and there is no real trail. It is not steep though, so I didn't find it necessary to use traction.

At this point in the season getting past the meadows would require downclimbing steep melting snow and/or some serious vertical bushwhacking (see photo). Seems ill-advised without a rope and some protection, given the exposure.