Three Fingers — Sunday, Aug. 22, 1999

North Cascades > Mountain Loop Highway

It was my friend Hadi's 45th birthday, and he wanted to get out and do something in the mountains. Neither of us had been to the Three Fingers lookout and wanted to check it out. We were expecting snow and packed ice axes. The trail in to Goat flats is frequently covered with water, snow and some blow-down, and has lots of protruding roots. All that liquid provided fertile breeding grounds for deer flies, black flies and mosquitoes. Where the snow obscured the trail, we were able to follow old foot prints to stay on course. Past Goat flats, the south-side ridge traverse is partially snow-covered, but not too steep for ski poles. The one north side traverse just past TinCan gap was an ""ice-axe only"" route. All the snow was well consolidated. The hut was in great shape - and almost no bugs. I had heard about the ladders up to the hut - fun to climb! And they seem to be in good repair. The views were fabulous - great trip! Bring a filter if you're planning to do this in hot weather - Hadi and I drank about four liters each.