I hiked the monument creek trail to lake of the woods, where I spent two nights while scrambling nearby monument and lake mountains.
This "lost" trail is found again! At least as far as lake of the woods! There is now tread the entire way and zero blow down to climb over or under. I had expected an adventure but really instead I was amazed by how good the trail is! It is often steep and narrow but I had no problem following. Sincere gratitude for the hard work that went into making this happen
There are spacious dry camps along the ridge at 4500 and 6200. The only water is at Eureka Creek and Lake of the Woods. The trail is rarely in the shade. With ups and downs I got over 5400 total vertical gain from the trailhead to the Lake. Brought 3.5 liters up from the creek and that was enough on a partly cloudy day..
There are at least 3 large established camps at the Lake. So many birds, including ducks! (At 6600 elevation!). It's very peaceful at the lake. I think proper bear hang would be tricky but lots of trees perfect for an ursack.
Met a hiker who had intended to "do the loop" on the old trail continuing down to monument creek and eventually to shellrock pass. He didn't find any sign of trail. I looked around and agree there wasn't any tread although I did find a few flags, but not enough to follow.
Comments
Christian Gustafson on Monument Creek
Lake of the Woods looks like an "extended tarn". We'll have to see about the rest of the route, especially north of Butte Pass. Captions on your photos would help us out, ie where is that vast unburned stretch in your 3rd photo.
Posted by:
Christian Gustafson on Aug 11, 2025 07:57 AM
Suhleenah on Monument Creek
That photo is taken looking north from Pistol Pass area. If you look carefully you can see tiny Lake of the Woods in the center of the forest there. Peak on the left is Lake.
Posted by:
Suhleenah on Aug 11, 2025 08:13 AM