I spent two nights camping at the lake and did one long day hike around the lake.

The trail to the lake is in good shape, but does have a short brushy section (with some stinging nettle) and two large trees to navigate over/around on the way up to the intersection with the Lookout Trail and one large tree above that where the only option is to crawl under on your hands and knees. 

The first water source is about an hour up the trail (requires a bit of clambering to get to a stream). After that several small and large creeks are available up to the lake. 

Ripe huckleberries abound, especially on the ridge above the lake (where I saw two bears multiple times). The bears are more interested in the berries, but it helps to make some noise around blind curves to make sure they know you're there. (I scared the two off from the ridge on the other side of the lake in the evening).

Views are spectacular on the way to the lake and even grander from the ridges above it. The trail to the east ridge is overgrown and almost non-existent in places...from the lake head over the log jam and you'll find a trail that takes you up and down small knolls before coming to a small pond (100 yards away) where the trail then disappears and reappears as you head uphill. Once you're on the ridge (enjoying the mountain views) there's an easy to follow trail heading north and eventually dipping down to a saddle where you can work your way up to Teebone ridge. 

From the other direction (the west ridge) go back up the main trail to the highest point above the lake and look for a faint boot path leading to the spine of Teebone ridge. Some scrambling is involved to reach the ridge, but the views are incredible (looking down at the Lookout and out to many high peaks including Baker, Shuksan and Glacier) and the walking fairly easy on top of the ridge. I worked my way around the entire ridge that way. (the most challenging part was getting down the ridge on the north end...I didn't find much of a trail and probably veered too far right (south) into steep, thick grassy meadows and rocky/bouldery patches. Nothing dangerous or scary but definitely took some time.

If you have the opportunity to claim this lookout for an evening the experience will be simply astounding, well worth the climb and the fight through the Forest of Flies.

Arrived at the trail head Saturday night, and car camped with the plan to leave early in the morning. Alarms did not cooperate as we started our hike to the lookout at 8am Sunday morning. Parking at the trail head can accommodate perhaps as much as 15 cars. On this morning we woke to 8 other cars. The climb is relentless as it makes it way through forests and meadows, one of which is a gauntlet of overgrown plants while the other will expose you to the sun. Fallen trees are few and easy to navigate. Minding the heat we paced our selves to reach the lookout by noon.

On the way we observed two campsites with no fire rings, just good locations to set up tents along the trail. The first is approximately at two miles but has no flowing water near by. The next is shortly before the Monogram Lake connection near the Lookout Creek crossing at approximately 3 miles. Neither of these sites require a permit.

Once we reached the first meadow, flies became an absolute nuisance, driving us to make a breaks shorter. At least there are nearly no mosquitoes. The fly harassment may not end until reaching the lookout where mountain top breezes should blow away all the bugs.  

We were fortunate enough to claim the lookout and had no challengers. Explore the grounds around the lookout to discover a privy hidden within a grove of evergreens back along the trail. Also bring extra water as no flowing water is near the lookout as well. Enjoy the views, sunset, sunrise, possible lightning storms, bear sightings, and stars!

On the way back the next day we visited Monogram Lake. The trail to the lake also makes its way through forests and sunny meadows, and is also home to swarms of flies. The lake water is freezing cold still in August, but can certainly provide relief from the summer heat as well as a small respite from the flies by washing off all your sweat. The flies at the lake were not as numerous as in the woods. Multiple camp sites are available at the lake, all of which require a free permit that can only be acquired at the Marblemount Ranger Station the day of your stay. While hiking back on a Monday we passed only one other hiker.

Note, dogs are allowed at the lookout, but not Monogram Lake.

Phew, that was tougher than expected! The mileage and elevation gain don't do it justice; all the roots and rocks make it more difficult.

There isn't much snow but it's a little tricky to follow the trail when the snow is on top. Luckily I had footprints to follow and GPS when I lost them. I'm going to guess that the snow will be almost all clear in a week.

The trail is mostly woods which is good for sunburn but it's more humid. And it's buggy if you slow down. There's one section that's a bit overgrown; the humidity and bugs are annoying there. Also I saw a few berries (salmonberry I think). Since it's not that popular of a trail, that had me a little worried about bears but luckily I didn't encounter any. Higher up it becomes all sun no shade so be ready for that too.

Someday I'll come back and do the Lookout side, and/or camp at the lake.

Day hike up to the alpine meadows at 5000'. The trail was beautiful and very strenuous, as has been remarked on multiple times. There were a few spots where snow covered the trail, but it was pretty easily negotiable until reaching the meadow, which still has significant snow cover. There were footsteps across the snow left by some brave souls who wanted to get over the last ridge to the lake itself, but I don't think that anyone should be crossing those snowfields. The end of season snow is brittle and it's avalanche terrain with dozens of smaller trees that are lying mostly flat from previous avalanches in addition to a debris field that needs to be crossed to access the ridge. Lots of small wildflowers are starting to pop up, not much blooming yet. No bears spotted today.

All in all, a wonderful hike. Even without reaching the lake I highly recommend the trek. I enjoyed the trail up to the snow covered meadow, from where there was a spectacular view of surrounding peaks and the lookout. Happily ate lunch up there and headed back down the trail while already planning for a return trip with less snow cover, which I assume will be by the end of the month or so.

Hit up the ranger station at 7am for a walk up permit for a single night of camping and was #15 in line. Didn’t get our first picks but got a great ref from the ranger for this alpine lake right on the border of the park.
The 4K vertical is serious, especially with gear but we made it up in about 3 hours. Mixed overcast skies as we cleared the ridge gave us a view of the surrounding peaks and glaciers but it didn’t last long. Saw a young lone black bear gorging on blueberries (as did we!) just as we created the ridge before dropping down to the lake. Fishing was excellent - dry flies and lots of success! Followed by quite a bit of rain which tried but failed to dampen our spirits.
The best part of this lake is there are only 2 designated campsites far apart from each other so the lake was all ours.