A group of 4 headed up to the lookout at 9:30. We saw 2 groups of unsuccessful hunters (bear) coming down in the first mile. On entering the meadows we could see why they had traveled so far to hunt here, there were more blueberries than I have ever seen (photo 1, this was not the thickest clump, once I got 9 berries with one grab). The mountain ash and white rhododendrons are just starting to turn, but many of the berries are in full color (photo 2) and some a little past. The views are outstanding (photo 3). The few flowers (pearly everlasting, harebell, asters, goldenrod) that were blooming had many pollinators and a few crab spiders on them (photo 4). On the lower sections, the bracken ferns and thimbleberry are very thick and colorful. The trail is in great shape. A nice feature is that you only spend a mile in the woods and the tread is gradual and often soft with duff (I think western hemlocks above tend to produce a soft tread below). Both the Suiattle River road and the 5 miles of the Green Mt Road are in pretty good shape with occasional potholes, some fairly large embedded rocks, and a few 3 inch or so loose rocks. Any car could make the journey. We saw many berries, birds, and other animals, thanks Paul for the list below! 

BERRIES
Cascades blueberry (Vaccinium deliciosum) — choice — millions of delicious berries
oval-leaf blueberry (Vaccinium ovalifolium) — choice — much less abundant, but ripe
tall / black huckleberry (Vaccinium membranaceum) — choice — also fewer, but ripe
red huckleberry (Vaccinium parvifolium) — choice — not many, but ripe
salal (Gaultheria shallon) — edible — some ripe ones, okay tasting
red elderberry (Sambucus racemosa) — edible — looked underripe

clasping twisted-stalk (Streptopus amplexifolius) — edible with caution — looked
underripe
rosy twisted-stalk (Streptopus lanceolatus) — edible with caution — looked ripe
Sitka mountain-ash (Sorbus sitchensis) — edible but bitter raw, tasty cooked (with
sugar) — looked ripe
bunchberry / dwarf dogwood (Cornus unalaschkensis) — edible raw, insipid to sweet —
looked ripe
queen’s cup (Clintonia uniflora) — mildly toxic — looked ripe
devil’s club (Oplopanax horridus) — poisonous to humans, edible to bears
baneberry (Actaea rubra) — very poisonous — looked ripe

BIRDS
Cooper’s Hawk
Red-tailed Hawk
Northern Harrier
Steller’s Jay
Common Raven
American Robin
Varied Thrush
Northern Flicker
Sooty Grouse
Eurasian Collared-Dove
Vaux’s Swift
American Pipit
Pine Siskin
Red-Breasted Nuthatch
Dark-Eyed Junco
Golden-Crowned Kinglet
White-Crowned Sparrow
Wren, species uncertain

BUTTERFLIES
Mormon Fritillary (Speyeria mormonia) — several near and at the summit

MAMMALS
American pika (Ochotona princeps) — heard and saw several
hoary marmot (Mamota caligata) — saw one large one and heard several whistle
Douglas squirrel (Tamiasciurus douglasii)

Overnight on Green Mountain from 8.23-24 2025

ROAD: Loooooooong but the little Nissan Versa Note made it. The road isn't horrible, but the potholes were hard to see with the lighting I had, and some of them surprised me, as did some bumps getting on some concrete sections. Some sections of washboarding also rattled my bones.

No facilities at the trailhead.

TRAIL: The trail was overall in good shape and easy to follow. There were maybe two small fallen trees in the forest to step over. Some of the more open sections were getting brushy, but perks of a heatwave meant the brush was dry.

Berries abounded! Thimbleberries, huckleberries, blueberries...you could forage for hours. Chonky marmots frolicked and whistled in the meadows.

I set up my bivy on a flat patch of dirt just below the lookout, making sure to keep an eye on things when I was wandering around just in case a marmot decided to investigate my belongings. Thankfully they left me alone.

The sunset was pretty and there were two others up there for the evening show, but the sunrise was popping and I had the mountain to myself! I watched the fiery skies until they faded, before I packed up and headed down.

Glad to have done this for a quickie overnight, otherwise the drive time would have been way longer than the actual hiking time. 🙃 

I carried all my water for the overnight (not a fan of filtering from stagnant ponds). 3L was way more than enough for me (I don't drink much) and I ended up dumping a bunch before my descent.

BUGS: There were a handful of mosquitoes at dawn and dusk, and there was a mass of flying ants of some kind around the lookout itself, but they didn't bite (but would land all over on you).

WANT MORE PHOTOS? Follow along on Instagram! @thenomadicartist

Gorgeous, full of berries. Hard uphill but the trail is well made with merciful switchbacks all the way up. Rewarded in steep parts with incredible views all around and SO MANY MARMOTS. Cute. We had the lookout to ourselves with glorious views. My muscles are sore but I'd do it again in an instant!

We had a glorious day on Green Mountain. The road has moments of surprising potholes, but overall is quite drivable. Arrived at the trailhead about 10 and there were about 8 cars there. Still room to park easily. 

It is definitely and up hill hike but very doable. There is section before you go over the first ridge that is a bit jungle like, with some of the thimble berry bushes and ferns about armpit high - and the trail is a bit narrow so you have to watch your step.  The views of Glacier start shortly after leaving the forrest.

Once you are over the first ridge the hike holds many of the wonders of the PNW: abundant flowers, LOTS of berries (yum!), marmots - and views (and more views!)  It was a gorgeous day, not too hot, with a nice breeze in the afternoon on the way down.

It was not crowed... maybe 6 people up top at the same time as we were. (This was a Sunday - and we were a bit surprised how few people were there for such a spectacular hike)

The only real bugs were around the lookout. It was hard to tell if they were flies or flying ants and there were lots of them. Annoying - but they didn't bite. We spent a few minutes gawking at the view from the lookout and then headed down the hill - less than 100 yds - and the bugs were no longer a problem. We found a great rock to have a leisurely lunch and then headed back down again - back to even more views, more flowers and berries.

What a great day.

Trail was in good condition, only 3 downed trees that were easily passable. There is only one source of water at the pond, around 2/3 the way up. I brought about 70oz of water which was plenty. The bugs were not bad for me, but my son got tore up; I guess they liked his sweet sweet blood more than mine. Overall, this was a great hike with massive views early on, and the views kept getting better! I think this is one of my favorites! The trail was not busy at all, only 4 other cars at the TH on a Sunday.