Tyee Lookout, Sugarloaf — Friday, May. 21, 2021

Had a goal of hitting Tyee, Sugarloaf, and Evergreen Mountain lookouts, but we were prepared to be flexible as we weren’t sure about snow conditions or if we could drive all the way up to the first two. Ended up cutting out Evergreen in an attempt to be home at a decent time - and were successful in that aspect!

TYEE:
There was no snow on the road to Tyee until approximately two miles before the lookout, and it went from 0 to 100 real quick 😂 there was a 20’ long, 4’ deep snow patch as our first obstacle, which I didn’t feel it would be worth attempting. We parked at 5250’ and I would imagine the snow would be passable within the next few weeks.

We laced up our boots and hiked about a mile on the road, in and out of snow occasionally, but spikes were unnecessary. The road bends sharply to the left and meanders up switchbacks to the lookout, we opted to “bushwhack” up the side of the mountain and gained about 600’ in the last half mile. Such incredible views from the top! There are a few huge cornices on the east ridge to be aware of if you decide to take the same route we did.

We were having snacks and taking in the views when we noticed a lady bug, then a few more, and suddenly we realized we were among THOUSANDS of lady bugs hibernating on the south and west sides of the lookout. If you can make it up to see them, its quite a sight!!

We were the first/only people up to Tyee, we only saw a few other vehicles of folks camping on our way out farther down the road.

Total stats: 4.21 miles, 1442’ gain per my Apple Watch

SUGARLOAF:

I was slightly nervous about connecting the two lookouts on the forest roads, just because I was unsure of snow conditions and didn’t want to go all the way around and hit it from the Chumstick side. From Tyee, we drove back down almost to Ardenvoir on the Mad River Road/FS 5700, turning right onto French Corral Road/FS 5800 and following signs to Sugarloaf. Before the Eagle Creek Road junction, the roads were perfectly fine. Afterwards they became wet, muddy, and rutted. It was to a point where I became slightly nervous, even though I have great all-terrain tires and 4WD, because it was beginning to rain and I wasn’t sure we would be able to make it up the hill if it was any wetter. *spoiler alert, we made it fine 😂 just be cautious if there’s precip in the forecast.

Snow appeared around 5400’ where we parked - approximately one mile before the fire lookout. It’ll be a few weeks before anyone can drive up there, snow is still a few feet across most of the road. We hiked up, without spikes, just fine. Such incredible views - AND the ladybugs were up there as well!!

Total stats: 2.1 miles, 372’ gain per my Apple Watch

All in all a great trip to two awesome lookouts. Highly recommend.