Hidden Lake Lookout — Tuesday, Sep. 23, 2025

Beautiful fall day for an epic hike. We arrived around 9 am, three other cars in the parking lot. The 4.5 mile road is tough, we made it over the giant potholes, 3 tricky areas, going slow in a Subaru. No toilets at trailhead. Hike starts in the woods with elevation gain right off the bat. Pop out of the forests for more uphill trekking. The level section filled with ripe blueberries was a most welcome break from the climb with views to Baker and closer mountains covered in glaciers. Break time was over too quickly and back to the climb. Route finding was not too difficult although we got off track a couple of times. Most social trails loop back to the main trail. Look for the rocks lined up in parallel for the final stretch to Hidden Lake. 
Hidden Lake is gorgeous, surrounded by mountains covered in ice. This outstanding view location could make for a fine turn around spot.
We continued up to the lookout, steep trail with some scrambling needed to reach the top. Got a chance to pop into the fire lookout, neat history and  fabulous views all around.  
To our delight, a group of white tailed ptarmigans were seen on the lower part of the scramble. They were mid molt turning from granite camouflage into winter white.
On our way back down we encountered a couple more hikers coming up and made a new friend who hiked down with us and infused some positive energy into our tiring trio. 
Took us about 7 hours with several rest, snack and blueberry breaks. 
Great day to be in the mountains!