Pinnacle Lake, Bathtub Lakes & Mount Pilchuck — Saturday, Jul. 23, 2016

North Cascades > Mountain Loop Highway

I had heard that following the yellow paint marks from the top of Iodine Gulch can get you to the Mount Pilchuck lookout from the Pinnacle lake trailhead in the east. I had been through before on snow with no visible marks to follow, so wanted to see if the paint marks really work as a route. So Steve and I left one car at the Pilchuck trailhead and drove the other to the Pinnacle lake trailhead where we departed on foot about 0845. This days weather was nothing like the forecast as fog and drizzle persisted most of the day. Much of the trail in the flat area prior to the lake was underwater or extremely muddy and going around through the brush meant putting on the rain-gear; which we needed the entire route. There is an intermittent climbers path most of the route, which we followed with the aid of the yellow paint swatches on the rocks. The route gets difficult to follow due to dense alpine vegetation when going up from the Bathtub lakes area to the ridge, and finding that foot-path is an important piece of the puzzle leading to the next yellow mark. Once on the ridge the yellow spots and trail continue with incredible views down to Lake 22 and Heather lake (on a clear day). There are some difficult rocky areas with paint marks that required some investigation, along the ridge. After trying to go around without success we discovered that going straight over, clinging to branches and using the available cracks was the way to go. Once above we found the yellow marks again and continued along the ridge to a big rock painted with an arrow down and saying "To Top". So after loosing several hundred feet we headed up the gulley leading to the SE shoulder and finally the lookout. At the lookout the Everett Mountaineers were completing a week long maintenance project. Steve, I and others helped move some old boards down and new boards up. Our token work was good enough to allow for a brief look inside. The clouds still shrouded the mountain peak as we departed for the standard trailhead with the sun finally making its appearance just before arriving some ten hours later than our departure from the east. We then drove back to the Pinnacle lake trailhead where two men were flagging us down as we arrived. To make a longer story short - I was able to call for assistance on my Ham radio (no cell service) and we saw the tow truck heading up the very rough road as we got near the Mountain Loop highway.

More Information on this Trip Report

• https://www.flickr.com/photos/nabuckley/albums/72157670708274482