Nice two night trip with the first at the Lookout Mountain Lookout & the second at Monogram Lake. 

We were originally planning on doing the Thornton Lakes & Trapper's Peak, but decided to try the slightly more ambitious hike to Monogram Lake after comparing the write-ups in the Ira Spring guidebook. We were permitted for two nights at Monogram, but as we began our ascent up the Lookout Mountain Trail, we encountered a pair of hikers descending who had spent the night at the lookout & advised us it was open. The Lookout is located on USFS land, so unlike Monogram Lake (which is in the North Cascades National Park), the lookout is first-come, first-served with no permit required, so we decided again to change plans & go for the lookout for the first night.

The trail climbs pretty steadily from the parking lot, with consistent switchbacks on a well established trail. Along the lower section, we found the red huckleberries were ripe & tasty. Mosquitoes & biting flies became prevalent after about a mile and a half, and shortly thereafter, we encountered a brushy section peppered with stinging nettles. Pants or gaiters would protect your legs, but I stayed with shorts & the stings were minor. Found a few ripe salmonberries in this section. At about two and a half miles, there is a bridge over a creek which is a good spot to refill water. We stopped & had a snack here too, despite the nagging bugs.

My map & CalTopo both said 2.8 miles to the junction with the Monogram Lake Trail, but according to my GPS, it's really closer to 3.25 miles. We continued straight (left) at the junction towards the lookout. The trail stays in the forest for a little over a mile before opening up into meadow with blooming lupine & assorted lilies. The climb intensifies for the last mile or so. We were carrying full loads since we had originally planned on the lake, so this stretch was slow-going & our dreams of the lookout were jeopardized as we were passed by a younger couple, carrying less weight, and hiking a lot faster than us with aspirations of the lookout as well. 

We reached the summit shortly behind the couple, but they were gracious enough to invite us to share the lookout. Found out later they were from Backcountry Essentials in Bellingham, and when we found out we were short a can of fuel, they even gave us theirs after breakfast the next day. Big shout out for that. Will definitely check that store out next time I'm up there.

After unpacking a bit, we made tacos at the lookout. Another couple arrived a few hours later with their dog, so we all shared the lookout for an amazing sunset with spectacular views. Also saw a couple of pyro-cumulus clouds develop in the north & east from nearby fires. The moon-rise was fabulous as well.

There wasn't room for all six of us in the lookout (there are two platforms), but the couple with the dog found a level campsite (sparse at the summit due to the remaining snowfield) by retreating down the trail a bit. As I just mentioned, there was still a snowfield on the summit with a few deep melt puddles, which I used to filter water. It was ok. Boiling snow would have been an option too, but at the time I was concerned about our fuel supply, so I pumped. Bugs were a nuisance on the ground, but not up in the lookout.

Sunrise cooked us awake through the lookout windows the next morning & we were back on trail about 9:45 am after a leisurely breakfast, and bidding farewell to our lookout buddies. Retreating back to the junction was quick, but again, my GPS contradicted the map on the long side (both on the ascent & descent, my GPS showed 2.15 miles, whereas the map shows 1.9 miles on that section). We reached the junction & turned left up the hill to begin the most grueling section of the trail. The first mile past the junction briskly gains elevation. The tight switchbacks don't provide much relief from the steep trail. We encountered two major-ish blow-downs on this section. We went under the first one, then removed our packs & went over the second.

After about a mile and a quarter, the trail exits the forest. Here, we encountered a small snowfield. Its easy to navigate, but we had to be careful not to step through the snow getting on & off. Following the snowfield, the trail gains for another quarter mile. Lookout Mountain & Mt. Baker come back into view from behind, before cresting the hillside, at which point the lake comes into view ahead & the trail begins a half-mile descent into the basin, crossing one more snowfield. I had the trail to the lake at 2.5 miles (the map says 2.1)

We reached the lake shore & after a little scouting, decided to proceed around the west side of the lake, taking the trail just past the toilet on the left, and over a small rock outcropping, before dropping our gear & setting up in a large campsite with a mixture of sun & shade. The sites are well established sites with a level, gravel floor.

After setup, we headed back down to the lake shore for some fishing (I had made sure to purchase the required license at the Chevron in Marblemount), but had no luck. The water was crisp, but did make for a nice, albeit brief, swim. Another couple arrived after a couple of hours intent on scrambling up Little Devil Peak in the morning.

Sadly, I found a few pieces of broken glass near the lake shore. Packed out what I could find, but be careful if you elect to go barefoot here at all. Mosquitoes & flies were persistent, but tolerable, for most of the day, but around sunset, the gnats became particularly assertive & we needed to retreat to our site for dinner. 

Slept a little later the next morning & had a leisurely, delicious breakfast before slowly packing up to head out. The hike out was beautiful & we were lucky enough to spot a large black bear traversing the cirque on our ascent back out of the basin. The bear was a considerable distance & across a talus field & we watched him through our binoculars for quite a while as he made his way back towards the lake, before we proceeded in the opposite direction of Yogi.

The blow-downs are easier to scoot under on the descent, and the nettles seem easier to spot & avoid moving down the brushy section below the junction.

When we arrived back at the car, we packed up & left, but upon arriving home, my buddy noticed he was missing his poles (REI Traverse) & had left them at the trailhead, so if anyone happened to grab them there, feel free to reply & let me know.

Otherwise, this is a great trip for a couple of nights. I think the trail is a bit longer than the map indicates (either 5.4 miles to the Lookout or 5.75 miles to the lake), but hey, that's just bonus hiking :). It was fun to finally stay in a lookout & Monogram is stunning. Would like to return some day for some additional scrambling up and around Little Devil Peak.

Cheers & happy trails!          

We started our hike on Wednesday which was cool due to cloud coverage and made this a perfect day for the elevation gain. The mileage seems off on the trail as the mile marker on the tree seemed like it was closer to 2 miles my GPS said it was closer to 6 miles to the lookout than the 4.4, 4.5, and 4.7 listed by different sites and guidebooks. It could have been just the elevation gain making it seem longer than it was. There are a number of down trees on the way to the split to Monogram Lake none of them overly difficult to cross there is a very overgrown stretch somewhere between mile 2 and 3 that has a lot of brush, salmon berry, ferns, and stinging nettle which made me regret my choice of shorts. Some of the stinging nettle overhangs the trail and I got my hands a couple times as well. The brushy sunny hiking reminds me of typical north cascades trails especially those out of Stehekin or less visited highway 20 hikes. After the brush the forest is spectacular with old growth hemlocks, creeks with well constructed wooden bridges and creeks with frogs hopping through. The meadow when you break out of the forest to lookout mountain is spectacular with Columbia tiger lily, vermilion paintbrush, penstemon, monkey flower, Sitka valerian, and a number of others and it was notable especially because it may be the only dense wildflower meadow I’ve ever been in without being drained of blood by angry hordes of mosquitoes or biting flies. There are a couple marmot holes in the trail and some slippery stretches of eroded trail here that could lead to some slips, it was a good place to take your time. We lucked out and got to stay in the lookout overnight it was super nice not to have to put up the tents for the night and it stayed warm in the lookout even as it dropped to the 40s overnight. Thanks to the volunteers for maintaining this beautiful historic structure! There were incredible views here nearly rivaling cascade pass or Hidden Lake Lookout with considerably more effort to get to. The next day I did some hiking on toward   Monogram Lake the grade is quite steep but the woods were gorgeous through here I stopped at a large down tree because I was feeling too lazy to take off my pack. I imagine it’s a great spot to visit as well but the trail is in some need of maintenance. I don’t think Monogram would be an easier option of the two. Not too many visitors and it was a great couple of days to be out in the mountains.

On a day that was cool and cloudy we decided to hike to Monogram Lake.  We are in our late 60’s but are strong hikers.  We knew the stated 4675-foot gain in 4.9 miles would be a challenge.  It was, although not as taxing as we expected to the junction with the Lookout Mountain trail but harder than we expected from that point to the lake. 

First, let me say that we take issue with the WTA-reported distance to the lake of 4.9 miles and suspect it is quite a bit farther.  It took us 4.5 hours to get to the lake and 3.25 hours to return.  We think the likely mileage is in line with that reported on the most recent Green Trails map for the area, which shows 3.4 miles to the Lookout Mt/Monogram Lake trail junction and 2.3 miles past that to Monogram Lake (5.7 miles total to the lake).  The elevation gain, as shown on the Green Trails map, is 3900’ from the trailhead (1300’) to the high point (5200’) overlooking Monogram Lake and then a drop of about 400’ down to the lake, making the roundtrip 11.4 miles and a total gain of ~4300’.  We wouldn’t be surprised if the mileage is closer to 6 miles each way.  Either that or we traveled at a much slower rate of speed than is typical for us.

We only encountered two parties on the lower part of the trail coming down from the Lookout as we were headed up.  They both said they saw a bear at a distance on the Lookout Mt portion of the trail.  From the junction to the lake, we encountered no one until arriving at the lake, where there was a party of 3 camped.  We didn’t see anyone on the way back down.  From a population standpoint it was kind of like hiking in the Cascades back in the 1970’s.

A prior WTA trip report chronicles the route up to the junction very well.  The only thing I would add is that you will navigate approximately 40 switchbacks in the first couple miles.  From the junction to the lake, the trail is in less wonderful shape.  The first mile or so is still in forest, narrow and very steep in places with a fair amount of deadfall to negotiate.  A few downed trees would be especially annoying if you were carrying a large pack.  The last quarter mile of that stretch before breaking out into the sub-alpine is especially steep.  Once you reach the subalpine you have to cross the toe of a sizeable avalanche that is actually quite easy to get across at the moment but once the snow melts it may be more problematic due to the amount of deadfall it contains.  From there up to the high point of 5200’ the going is easier.  The views are lovely from the high point and as you head down to the lake, although we had a low enough cloud deck that we couldn’t see as much as we would have liked.  Early flowers are out, especially once you hit the high point above the lake.  Lots of heather, columbine and tiger lily especially.  There are fields and fields of huckleberry that look as though they will produce a bumper crop when the time comes.  Hence the bear.  Bugs were surprisingly almost non-existent, although that may change as more flowers develop.

The drop down to the lake from the high point is pretty steep initially but mellows out as you approach the lake.  There is a lot of deadfall in the water along portions of the lake shore which detracts a bit from what is otherwise a lovely alpine lake setting.  There is a campsite not far from the outlet that has an adjacent bear box and a privy not too far away.  We didn’t see other campsites but I gather there must be some additional sites scattered around.  There are some trails that head around the lake but across the outlet and along the south shore they are pretty overgrown and seemed to peter out.  I didn’t check out the trail that heads around the north shore, but that looks a bit more traveled.  My husband was successful catching some fingerling trout on his spinning rod but a fly rod probably would have been better as they were rising to flies and there were some larger (although still smallish) fish evident.  Grouse were whumphing up a storm the entire time we were at the lake until one of the campers started playing bongo drums which threw the grouse for a loop, apparently.  Definitely a pleasant spot (minus bongos), but you’ll work to get there.

I overheard 2 fathers at breakfast this morning, one lamenting to the other that he could only secure a camping permit for Monogram Lake.  Not sure where he wanted to go, but with the hike I did today, Monogram Lake is the best place to camp in the North Cascades.

Where the lake trail starts to drop to the lake, go L up the ridge.  Intermittent path, stays mostly on the crest, rocky, bring gloves.  Once on top of the ridge it flattens, views in all directions.  Walk out to glacier with small lake below.  Probably 12 miles total, 5000', 5 hours up, 3.5 down.  Back in time for dinner at Glacier Peak Resort, complete with homemade blackberry pie and ice cream.  That's what I call camping!

The road: Paved the whole way, any car can make it just fine. Be aware that you’re parked on the side of the cascade river road though, so you definitely shouldn’t leave valuables in the car. 

The trail: Trail is snow free until about 1.5miles in (and at about 3000ft elevation) where it becomes patchy, then in another half mile it’s consistent. We were the first party up Saturday morning in quite a while and therefore had to break trail. We wore snowshoes and were still sinking up to our hips at times where a lot of snow had accumulated. There were two other groups that came up after us though so there should now be a good packed down trail. 

We did not make it to the lookout. After pushing past the fork for Monogram lake, we encountered a partially filled in creek which still had water flowing underneath and steep banks on each side with no safe looking route around it without either traveling up or down creek for an unknown distance. While attempting to find a route around, I fell through the snow to what we assume is a log pile, which trapped my snowshoe (and foot) in an extremely awkward position that could’ve easily resulted in a broken ankle. I had to remove my pack and use my avy shovel to dig myself out. 

We decided to have lunch there and call it a day. Unsure if the other two groups found a way around the creek or not.