Monogram Lake — Wednesday, Jul. 30, 2025

If a lot of vert doesn't bother you, this is a wonderful hike! 2 cars at the trailhead when I arrived at 9am on a Wednesday. The first ~3 miles are steep but entirely in the trees, which made doing this on a hot day tolerable. The views, flowers, and berries get amazing about 3/4 of a mile from the lake and the lake itself is beautiful and swimmable (especially if you can make it to the north end of the lake, with fewer submerged trees). Lots of trout. There are several nicely private campsites, and I only saw one tent while there.

I bushwacked up to peak 5710 by following the path past the campsites along the west side of the lake, heading north. There is an old slide that has covered most of what used to be a defined trail on the west side of the lake and it gets unpleasantly schwacky quickly, although someone has intermittently tied pink flagging along where the trail used to be to help navigate. Once you pass the slide zone, there are several great swimming spots at the north end of the lake.

I targeted the saddle to the north of peak 5710 (between it and Little Devil) and mostly stuck to the drainages on the way up. Once I made it to the ridge, there is a defined trail. The views across the valley to Eldo and beyond are spectacular. 

I ran into one other hiker on 5710 who had scrambled from the opposite side of the lake (the east side, headed north), which she said was also quite schwacky - not sure which approach is a better option, but both are doable. 

Total stats with the added peakbag were 12.6 miles, 5971 feet of elevation gain, and 7.5 hours (hiking + lunch + lots of berry snacking).