I hiked Huckleberry Mountain on a weekday. Getting to the trail is easy. The first 10 miles of Suiattle River Road are paved and the remaining four miles are in relatively good shape. The trailhead has a pull out on the right side that is decently sized. There is a sign next to the trailhead on the left - but it is small and the vegetation near it is overgrown, so it might be easy to miss if you don't know its there.
As mentioned in the description, the trail is overgrown for approximately the first two miles (until about 2800' of elevation). I'd recommend gaiters if the vegetation is wet, as it was on the day I went. Even though its over grown, the trail is easy to follow at this point and the tread is in decent shape. Although there are some points were the tread is damaged or slanting. It is definitely a narrow trail.
After the first two miles, the forest gets more open and the trail is actually pretty nice. The elevation gain never seems too bad as there are plenty of switchbacks. I started the trip out with mostly blue skies in the morning, so I was able to catch a glimpse of White Chuck and other surrounding mountains every now and then during the ascent, but there really aren't any great views to be honest at this point. During this part of the trail, there are still intermittent portions of overgrown sections, but its not that bad.
Once I got to about 5100' the trail opened up and there were more views. Especially of Glacier and the Suiattle River valley. (Unfortunately, my phone decided to reset itself during the trip and I lost all of the pictures). Its really quite beautiful in the meadows and well worth the trip. The trail is still easy to follow until the knoll at about 5400' feet.
Approaching that knoll, I lost the trail. Fortunately, it is open ground and I knew I had to get to the open spot between the trees at the top. So I went straight to it. There, I found the trail again. The views at the knoll are quite good. I continued to follow the trail down the other side of the knoll, with it getting increasingly difficult to follow. I lost it again, but this time the going was more difficult. I went a little too far west and ran into some cliffs. I descended and eventually found the trail again. I recommend staying east at this point if in doubt as cliffs are not the way to go.
By descending, I found some semblance of a trail again which took me to an area with some ponds. At that area, there appeared to be multiple trails, but none that went the direction that I needed to go, which was basically north. So, I picked the path of least resistance and began ascending. Eventually, I got to a clearing and proceeded to ascent towards the summit which is now visible. I was mostly bushwhacking at this point, but every now and then there would be something that seemed to be a trail. This part is actually quite difficult because the bushes get slippery when wet, so it was slow going. It was definitely a scramble at this point rather than a hike. Towards the top I found a partial trail again and took it to the summit. I actually think if this part was covered by some snow, it would be a lot easier as one could ascent easier with proper gear than on the brush and it would be great place to glissade on the way back.
I enjoyed the views for a bit as the rain moved in. The views at this point weren't as good because it had gotten cloudier.
On the way back, I pretty much went the way I came, except I avoided the cliffs and went a little eastward. It pretty much rained the whole time, so I was pretty wet by the time I returned to my car. I was still the only car in the parking lot.
The total trip ended up being about 14 miles, rather than the 12 predicted.
Overall, the trail could use some maintenance but its a great place to find solitude as I saw no one all day. I'd recommend stopping at the 5400' knoll rather than the summit unless you are prepared for navigating and scrambling.
Comments