Three Fingers — Friday, Sep. 29, 2023

This one has been on my list for awhile and Im so glad I was able to get out and see it in its fall glory! Magnificent views, lots of variety along the trail. Can see views of mt baker, mt shukson, olympic mt range and mt rainier from the goat flats meadows. There was several camping spots at the meadows and several water sources from the start of the trailhead all the way to the lookout with the snow that blew in 1wk ago. 

That being said.... there is the additional 8miles one way from car to the actual trail head and there is a large gully about 1 mile from the 3 fingers trailhead. BEWARE OF THE GULLY!!!! On our way back from the wkend of adventures, I was riding on my bike with pack and forgot about the gully. Came around the corner going too fast to stop in time when I saw it. Ended up launching down into the gully on my bike, flew over the handlebars tumbling with my pack resulting in fracturing my tibia. I was fortunate to be rescued by 3 very helpful young guys who were total rock stars. Thankyou Zack and friends! One of them gave me a ride back to my car on his motorbike for the remaining 7miles. I do not know what I have done without them. I am told this is a common spot for accidents for obvious reasons so just be on high alert for this if you are on wheels of some sort so you dont end up with a broken leg like me!

Ok back to hike.... Fall foliage is out and is beautiful. Nights were crips with heavy frost frozen on tent by morning. Windy at night, dress warm. Hiking trail is overall in good condition. After the meadows in winds along the south side of the ridge where it is nice. As soon as you come to tin can gap, the temperature immediately drops and no longer feels warm. You will want a puffy jacket, gloves and hat. The trail has a few technical sections that are rock scrambles with ice on them. Can be done with microspikes but has to be done with care to avoid falling. Then trail melts out again since it weaves back over to the south side of the ridge. After switch backs bringing you back to the ridge again, you meet snow again. Near the lookout there is a small section where the trail curves right around a rock face. The trail leans inwards towards the rock which is helpful. But this section is someone dangerous since there is only a small ledge to the left of a couple of feet before it dramatically drops thousands of feet. After this section you quickly come upon the ladders which are actually not that bad. They are sturdy and do not wiggle. The last ladder leads to the slab that the look out is on and is the most exposed. To the left of the ladder it drops about 10ft down for about a 10ft deep ledge before the cliff drops thousands of feet. Its a little nerve racking to do but is doable. After the last ladder, there is a thick rope to grab to help pull yourself up the slab followed but a thinner climbing rope that helps get you to finally the flat portion near the lookout. There was a trail crew replacing the front door to the lookout since apparently some idiot kicked in the lookout door assuming it was locked with the lookout is never locked. So shame on that guy who didnt even leave his number to offer to pay for the repair!

Anyway, fantastic views all around at the lookout. Would have been fantastic for a sunrise/sunset. As many others have said in their reports, be sure to budget extra time to get from meadow to the lookout. It may be only a few miles but they are definitely tougher miles and take more time to do.

We did not see any goats but apparently they are common in the meadow. Wilderness toilet in the meadow was very easy to find, had some nice tree privacy and was being dug a new hole by some work crew guys (thankyou!!!). 

Of note, there is a hornets nest about 2miles into the trail from the 3 fingers trailhead. It is not by saddle lake like everyone seems to be saying. I did not get stung but others behind me did. And apparently some guy got stung 15-20 times. So be on the lookout for that.

10/10 would recommend the 3 fingers lookout for your hiking list! Definitely alot of ppl out on the trail but did not feel crowded.