Absolutely beautiful overnight hike. I was the only person on the trail from the turnoff to Lookout Mountain and I was the only person at the lake.

The entire trail from the trailhead to the turnoff to Lookout Mountain is very steep, but it is in good overall shape. It is a pretty forest, but there aren't any views of the surrounding mountains on this portion. There is one very large treefall where the tree runs along a good portion of the trail. You can actually walk through the hollowed out trunk. Try to exit this treefall to the left as you are going up as it is much easier. The right is passable too, you just have to crawl under the trunk that way and it is difficult with a backpack. There are no other difficult treefalls. During the second half of this trail, there is a very overgrown span. You can see the parting in the vegetation the whole way. The trail is very narrow and there are a lot of rocks and logs to trip on and they are hard to see because of the dense brush. You will probably get pretty wet on this section. There was no snow on this trail, trekking poles are a good idea just due to the steepness of the trail.

The trail off to Monogram Lake is even more steep and it is a little more difficult to navigate than the preceding trail. You are rewarded with absolutely beautiful views of the surrounding mountains and Monogram Lake starting at about the halfway mark. There are no significant treefalls. There are three snowfields to navigate, none of them are very deep. The first is pretty flat and runs over a creek. You will lose the trail a few times in the crossing, but it is pretty easy to find your way. The next snowfield is steep and pretty wide. I followed fresh bear tracks and the bear was a good guide. I made it through this snowfield very easily. You can also follow the reddish-brown timber run-off line that runs right through the middle and make it through here just fine. The third snowfield is the most challenging as it is also steep and broken up by trees. You enter this snowfield on your left and exit up on the right, just try to move diagonally up to your right. I followed less fresh elk tracks on this snowfield, and the bear was a better guide. If you lose your way, just get to the top of the snowfield however you can and walk to the right to find the trail. You do not need an iceaxe for this trail. Trekking poles are a good idea, but you could probably cross the snowfields without them too.

After the snowfields, you get your reward. Just over the ridge, you get absolutely stunning views of Monogram Lake and the surrounding mountains. The lake itself looks better from a distance and seeing it up close doesn't add too much. The hike from here down to the lake is also very steep. You could probably stop at the first creek crossing and turn around if you are not spending the night as you have already seen the best views.

The campground is great and well-maintained. The first spot is off to the right and it offers no views of the lake. It does offer good views of the surrounding mountains, is pretty open, and is very close to the cooking area. I think that this is the best site. The other site is farther in and off to the left. It offers a view of the lake, but not a great view of the surrounding area. This site is much bigger and the surrounding brush is more dense. It is also closer to the privy and has a great and very close water source. There may be a third site, but it was flooded, very small, right off the trail and in full view of the bigger campsite and had no view to speak of. Maybe it was just a second cooking area.

This is maybe the beariest place that I have ever seen. Surprisingly I saw only one bear, but I saw it twice (both times heading for my camp). It came as close as 30 feet from me and actually walked toward me when I tried to shoo it away. It was not aggressive, but seemed a little too tame to me. I had to aggressively scare it off. Just know that there is a bear hunting area a few miles away from the lake, and I met one bear hunter on the trail who was out scouting. If these bears get too used to people, they're going to be easy targets for the hunters. Please properly store your food and scare away any bears that you see.

A little ambitious for the first spring day hike given the elevation gain and self imposed time constraints but we had to try.  Blessedly in the shade on a warm day with enough breeze to keep the bugs away.   Trail in decent shape with exception of one major large tree fall but can be navigated if nimble.  Lookout creek was beautiful.  Junction off to monogram in good shape until the snow field hiding the creek.  We enjoyed lunch here and had to head back.  Not enough time to slip and slide across to peek over the ridge to see if the lake was showing off yet.  Maybe this fall.

Intermittent snow beginning at 4500 ft, with consistent snow once you leave tree line around 5000 ft and have to cross over large amount of avalanche debris. Gps helpful for navigating over ridge and getting down to lake. Poles recommended for few water crossings and snow. Traction could come in handy but snow is soft so not essential. Lake is still 90% frozen over, campsites and toilets under snow. Lake drainage is flowing so it is possible to collect water rather than melt snow. Overall trail in really great shape.

As with the others, my brother and I took the standard Monogram Lake Trail from Cascade River Road.

After the crazy slog up to the lake, we crossed the log jam at the stream outlet, and then explored around until we found the bootpath - it's a bit hard to find at first, but it becomes more visible after not too long.

Fair warning - this trail isn't often taken (and Little Devil Peak isn't often climbed), and we frequently lost the precise trail in overgrowth, and had to play Choose Your Own Adventure in more than one section. Definitely take pictures of sketchy areas, and where you resume the trail, for reference on the return leg of the journey.

We made the top of the ridge arm about an hour or so before the sun began to dip, so we were treated to majestic views of the Cascade River Valley, Eldorado peak, Sahale, Glacier Peak, and countless others.

We didn't have time to continue up the ridge to summit Little Devil itself, so we consoled ourselves with photos of the sun setting over the mountains, instead.

We got lost more than once on the way down, too, and had to backtrack a bunch to find the proper trail. So keep that in mind if you tackle the LDP ridge. It's pretty hairy.

We hiked this trail because of a recommendation by a park ranger in Marboulmount when we were too late for the Sahale Glacier Permit.

The views at the top were really amazing, but the hike up was brutal. I definitely would do this hike again, but only if I was able to stay overnight at the lake again. The sunset and sunrise make it worth it! Because its such a tough hike (935 ft/mile for 5 miles - basically straight up the whole way), it is very private. There are also only two backcountry camp permits available for the lake so it that was awesome as well! I'd say this is my favorite alpine lake I've ever been too!

Definitely recommend, but go mentally prepared for a challenge!