Green Mountain — Saturday, Jun. 27, 2009

North Cascades

I'm fascinated by abandoned trails, and I love the Suiattle area of Mt Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest, and I love Green Mountain. Combine all of these, and that's what we did this weekend. My freinds Jim (HikerJim), Randy and I biked the Suiattle River Road on Friday evening and camped at Downey Creek. Saturday morning we set out on the old original trail (elev 1495') to get to the summit of Green Mtn (6500'). What the Green Mtn Road does in 6 miles, the old trail does in 2 - but it never seems steep - it's a nice steady grade. It was thrilling to see the old tread and walk on it. Abandoned over 50 years ago when the Green Mountain road was built, this wonderful old trail is in very good condition underneath all those downed logs. I suspect it's used by hunters in the fall, but not enough to keep the salal and moss from growing in the tread. We lost the trail here and there, but overall were extremely happy with our progress. We found a couple of old ceramic telephone insulators and wire, one set still attached to a tree (that had fallen). It was as if that when they closed the trail, they simply walked away - this was like taking a walk through time. Once we were out of the salal zone, through the bare forest floor poked candystick, coralroot and pinedrop. We then entered a lush mossy zone - the trail was covered in moss. So very, very pretty. The old trail pops out unceremoniously onto the Green Mtn road about 1/4 mile down from the current trailhead. WE continued on the current trail to the tarns at 5300' where we set up camp. The massive meadows are lush and - well, green. Though just beginning it's bloom, the flower show here is sublime - simply amazing, as many of you remember. We hit snow when the trail curves around the slope and heads NE. The basin is still covered in about 4-5 feet of snow. We set up camp, relaxed in the warm sunshine and listened to the pikas, thrushes and marmots. After and early dinner we grabbed our ice axes, cameras and puffy coats and headed up the snowy slope to the summit ridge, then followed the summer trail a few hundred linear feet to the summit where we spent an hour relaxing and being happy. Spectacular views around - Glacier Peak, Dome and Whitechuck being prominent - the Ptarmigan Ptraverse, Sulphur Mtn, Bonanza, blah, blah, blah. You name it, we saw it. The next morning we reluctantly left this gorgeous mountain and pounded back to Downey Creek. Route finding on the old trail was more difficult on the way down, and we lost the trail more often, and for longer periods of time, but were still on our bikes by 3 PM and headed back to milepost 12 where the rigs were parked. The Suiattle River Road is slated for repair next summer. Let's hope this beautiful mountain can be visted again in 2011. If anyone is interested in this old trail, or if you know about it and wish to share something with me, please feel free to email me at brownk3@myuw.net.