I hiked this trail with eight of my friends, a group of varying skill levels. The first 2+ miles are just nothing but steep switchbacks, and our group separated in two: some fast hikers hammering it at the front, and then a slower group. I was in the fast hiker group, and we ended up waiting for 20+ minutes just after 2 miles for the rest to catch up. The slow people aren't sedentary, they hike plenty -- it's just that the first two miles are unrelenting.

From there, you pretty soon move into an open ascent through a badly overgrown field. I was in pants and didn't notice a thing, but several friends in shorts reported many nettle stings.

Soon after, you'll come upon the sign showing Lookout Mountain from Monogram Lake. The sign is down--be careful. A few years ago, I missed it and hiked Lookout by mistake. This time, I spotted it easily enough, but it's still good to keep a close eye.

As you take the trail diverging to Monogram, you'll again be faced by an unrelenting ascent, this time including several large blowdowns you'll need to get over. This section was right around a mile.

For us, last weekend, it was just shy of mile 4 that we came upon the main snowfield. We met a hiker headed  back in, a solo male with a dog. He told us he hadn't used spikes at all, just poles. He did caution us strongly to use a GPS because it was hard to find the trail.

He was right! The last mile-plus of the trail will see you go up through a snowfield and then down a steep, pitched descent to Monogram Lake. The snow seemed stable except for a few areas near the edges where I saw bridging and then one odd area in the middle of the field where the snow was strangely airy and soft. The views on the ridge as you prepare for the descent to Monogram are stunning--Cascades everywhere. Down at the lake, there was only a little bit that had melted through the ice, but it was warm enough that two of my friends briefly got in.

Our group used microspikes and poles, and we needed them a lot on the way back up from the lake. We may have just followed bootpath and gotten off the trail, but the climb back up the snowy slope was brutal. It was at this part in the hike that I felt blisters erupting right and left, and they haven't subsided several days later.

This is a wonderful trail, a worthy trail. The views are fantastic. But boy, you will work for it. Our slower group didn't actually continue on through the snowfields, and I think they were probably right to stop. Even for us fast hikers, we spent right around 6 hours on the trail, though that will improve a lot once the snowfields melt out.

Cascade River Road to trailhead at milepost 7 (7 miles from Marblemount) is suitable for all vehicles. In fact, last weekend I ran up the road and it was Prius condition all the way to Mineral Park campground at milepost 15.7, Subaru condition to mile post 17.4, and high clearance AWD condition to 17.7. After that you need to bring a shovel, big saw, losts of time and a car that can handle 18" of icy snow. 

The trail itself starts out snow free to about 2300 ft, and by 3100, where I turned around, there were about 3-4" on the ground. 

Nothing else noteworthy to report. I noticed footprints going higher up, but have no idea how far they got or what the conditions are up there. 

Was hoping for clear conditions today, and although the weather forecast was promising, clouds socked in the upper slopes and ridge line, wiping out most of the views. Still, there was plenty to see and enjoy on this steep grind of a hike.

The trail to Monogram Lake has a several small and several large trees on the trail. There were several boggy parts on the trail and I was wishing I'd brought my waterproof shoes.
Near the lake was a tiny patch of snow, some wild flowers, and millions of berries. We did see a black bear enjoying the fruit.

Three cars were parked at the Lookout Mountain/Monogram Lake trailhead when I arrived at 8:30 am.  From talks with a ranger on Sourdough Mountain, I figured those folks had stayed the night at the lookout: two couples inside, one out.  The lack of a toilet and a trail register at the trailhead presaged a lack of trail maintenance, especially on the branch to Monogram Lake, although there were bridges, steps, and berms that indicated the trail wasn't neglected in the past.  There were several trees down on the trail, particularly on the Monogram Lake spur where a couple of big ones that needed crawling under and several more that called for crawling over, but that said, though it looped up and down and was fairly steep, the trail was easy to follow. The spur to Monogram Lake felt more improvised than what had preceded it, but it was of a similar steepness.

A square plank crossed the small creek, which had plenty of water, even above where the trail to the lake crossed it again.  There were other water sources along the trail.  Up top were many blueberries.  Few bugs.

The hard parts were the unrelenting trees, which gave way at a long and overgrown meadow, and then finally gave up at subalpine meadow near the pass to the lake.

I like views and Monogram Lake is in a cup.  At the pass I easily found the "vague" trail that reports described running up the ridge to gobsmacking views from the high ridge to Little Devil Peak.  (Some call this ridge Teebone, but that is further on.)  I wanted to see how I would fare with a Class 2 scramble.  It wasn't long before I was over my head.  Hiking alone I have to be careful, and that day I was truly alone: I saw only one other person--way down low. I stopped there and had lunch surrounded by spectacular views of Primus, Eldorado, Boston, the Triad, Johannesburg, Hidden Lake Peaks, Dome, Glacier, Snowking, Chaval, Baker, Bacon, and a dozens of others.

Online I could find no photos of Monogram Lake's setting or that fateful ridge toward Little Devil Peak. Here they are.  I hope you make it up there!

I got back to the trailhead at 7:00 pm.  Three cars were still there, but the makes had changed.  The lookout was full once again.

There seems to be a question of the distance and elevation for the Monogram Lake hike.  Gaia GPS (desktop) puts it at 9.3 miles and 5,200 vertical feet figuring in ups and downs (and there are a lot of them).  The hike I took to the ridge above the lake clocks out to 8.6 miles and 5,000 vertical feet.

Another day in paradise.