Green Mountain — Wednesday, Oct. 29, 2014

North Cascades > Mountain Loop Highway

The Suiattle River road opened on Saturday after being closed for more than ten years. I wanted to see the new repairs and also hike up to the newly repaired Green Mountain Lookout. The new road is in excellent condition and I want to thank the Forest Service’s for their determination to open this very valuable access artery for all of us. The road up to the Green Mountain trailhead is a different matter. More than a decade of untrammeled leaves and the recent rains have composted the surface into a slurry of slimy black mud in several places. While four wheel drive is not required, I was glad to have it. The trail up to the LO is in amazingly good condition. I tossed off a few dozen branches and opened one clogged culvert, but other than that, no one would ever imagine that this has been a dormant trail. Spotty snow starts at about 5100’ and there are some drifts approaching a foot deep on the trail higher up. However, it was all very easy to negotiate with my light low cut summer hiking shoes and shorty gaiters. I was looking forward to lunch in the lookout, but it is locked up tight for the winter. It was totally foggy and breezy on top with a few snowflakes flying around. I had a commanding view for fifty feet in all directions.