Sulphur Mountain — Saturday, Sep. 6, 1997

North Cascades > Mountain Loop Highway

The Sulphur Mountain trailhead can be found a short 1/8 mile down the Suiattle River trail #784. This seldom visited trail is in very good shape compared to most. The first mile or so is being taken over by salal and there's around 30 fallen trees accross the trail, but the trail being completely water free has no water caused damage except for a short rocky and rooty stretch at the very start. If you look at the USGS map you will see the Sulphur Mountain trail rendered as a long squiggly line that gains 4200 feet in 5 miles so be prepared to do lots of squiggly climbing as the trail switchbacks up an average 16% grade through forest before it breaks out into open hillside just a short distance before the official trail ending and your very first chance of un-obstructed views to the south and west. Due south is the magnificant northern face of Glacier Peak. Below you to the north you will see Sulphur Lake and the remnants of a silted in Lookout Lake. Trails lead down to the lake, but our destination, Sulphur Mountain, lay across the basin from us to the south-east. We followed a faint climbers path which at times also played connect-the-dots with marmot holes. Their early-warning systems sounded as I approached. The sketchy scrambler's path leads around the rim of the basin through scrub, over large boulders and up the west ridge of Sulphur Mountain to its summit at 6735 feet. Though Sulphur Mountain is not near the top of most climbers' lists it's a worthy summit in a seldom visited area with great views in all directions. We counted only two other people on the trail on a beautiful early-fall Sunday.