I’m going to start backwards for those who don’t want to read all of this.  Had a great time but my mom heart is worried.  On descent we decided to take the more circuitous route back on the Three Fingers Trail and walk the road which we made super good time on.  At 2.4 miles from the parking lot and the Three Fingers TH, we saw a pair of hikers just heading to the lookout looking completely unprepared. Shortly after, we came across two young men pushing heavy bikes up and they were only a mile in at 5:30 pm!  They had no map, no tent, hardly any supplies- one didn’t even have a coat with sunset around 7:00 pm.  We offered a map but they declined and just took a picture of it.  They had no idea when we were talking to them that it’s completely different weather conditions up there.  It was cold and windy up there and sunny down below.   Neither group seemed to be aware of what they were getting into.  Due to the rain the trail was muddy and slick.  We counted 50 blow overs from Saddle Lake to the TH where bikes are stored.  You cannot move fast in those type of conditions.  I don’t mean to sound chirpy but please, please bring the 10 essentials and consider any trip as potential for winter conditions and when doing this particular overnighter BRING A TENT!  I literally don’t know how these kids are going to do in the dark going up to the lookout.  And literally due no to little supplies, no options other than to turnaround or push on to the lookout.  Two weeks ago, it was raining torrents and a guy came into the lookout with no coat, in tennis shoes and in the dark.  This is how people get hurt.  Now the report:
 Wednesday was great weather with clouds passing.  We chose to take the Meadow Mountain route which you need to keep an eye out for at about 2.2-2.3 miles in.   There is no pink marker or indicator, so keep an eye out for it on your right.  There will be a TH board once you enter the woods.  Meadow Mountain is very pretty for a woods hike but it is not a maintained trail and you will go over blowdown log after another.  There was 10 in just about 30 feet.  The Three Fingers Lookout trail is longer but I think you can make faster time.   There is endless switchbacks and the Mountain Meadow trail feels like it will never end.  I walked through countless spider webs- oh and some of them are made by these big black spiders so keep an eye out for those.  The trail is very muddy and brushy.  But….  I’m still glad I checked it out and think it’s fun doing it as a loop if you’re not biking in.   Thursday at Tin Can Gap was really cold and blustery and also sunny and warm.  The weather changes from moment to moment sometimes.  Thursday night in the Goat Flats we were the only ones there.  It rained on and off most of the night.  The morning was cold and socked in.  We were going to chill in the sun for the day but decided to call it quits and head home.  We just weren’t sure if it was going to blow over or not.  Oh, and from Goat Flats on- especially towards Tin Can Gap there were more berries than I have ever seen.  See pics below.  Have fun, be prepared and safe!

TLDR: lovely night in the lookout shared with 2 Aussies visiting the states. Amazing destination, decent bit of exposure not to be underestimated! Lots of ripe blueberries. Mostly snow free and plenty of water sources sprinkled throughout route at late season. Lookout was full earlier in the week and on the Friday night we were hiking out. Pack your trash and poop out and give yourself plenty of time to get up there-- you do not want to go past Goat Flats if you don't have enough day light to make it to the lookout or the lookout is full.

• Left cars around 7:15am and arrived at lookout around 3pm-ish
• Total distance from bridge > lookout: 15.7 miles, 6070 ft. gain.
• Bike ride section: 8.7 miles, 1697 ft gain, took us ~1:45
• TH to Lookout: 7 miles, 4373 ft gain, took us ~5 hours of moving time, ~6 with blueberry eating/water filter/photo/snack breaks.

Great late summer-early Fall weather for my first time up to the lookout-- a Washington classic! We started around 7:15am as I had been concerned about the bike ride (~8.7 miles, 1697 ft gain) up the old road with an overnight pack on and a professional trail runner as my companion, but the grade was friendly and we arrived at the trailhead in under 2 hours.

The next section through the forest up to Goat Flats (4.4 miles, 2318 ft gain) went by in a blur of conversation and while a bit moist and with several downed trees to hop over, the going proved pretty swift aside from all the Spider webs my friend cleared out of my way by going first... before arriving at Goat Flats, we filled up water at a running stream around 4200 ft. as we had been under the impression there would be no more water sources aside from snow melt which was a bit concerning as it's never fun to have to conserve water/lug lots of it up a long way. As an aside, it was a nice surprise to find another water source later in the day when we were just about to the lookout. I imagine this is not available earlier in the season when that section of trail is covered in snow. Unfortunately I don't have the elevation of that spot handy but this time of year, the trail crosses right over this water source right before you get to the scrambling and ladders section of the ascent.

We made it to Goat Flats a couple hours later and were treated to big open meadows full of ripe blueberries and great views of the Three Fingers. It was fun to get glimpses of the lookout throughout the entire way up-- it truly blows me away that people built the structure where they did. Many questions remain! 

The section post-Goat Flats to the lookout (2.6 miles, 2055 ft gain) is really a trail-building marvel-- we were so impressed with the meandering trail cut through the big spires, making the ascent through some pretty impressively steep terrain very do-able. For those who don't like exposure however, this section may not be for you! We almost ascended the wrong rock/scree gully at one point but our gps track, a small cairn and a gut feeling righted our course. After filling up water again at the unexpected water source, we crossed a small snowfield (in trail runners..no problem at all with soft snow) and then ascended one more scree/talus field before arriving at the ladders. The folks we spent the night in the lookout with said they saw a maintenance list including new ladders-- while I felt relatively safe on the ladders, they do creak quite a bit and appear to have been around for a while. The second one moves a bit as your weight shifts and the transition from the second to the third ladder is very exposed. After the second ladder, you are in a no-fall zone which is always a bit spooky with an overnight pack on.

This hike is accessible/not technical enough to scare away many folks but I do think this final part of the journey is worth really asking yourself if you are comfortable with exposure/fall risk. The folks we stayed with at the lookout, visiting the States for a month long road trip, did share that they were surprised and a bit out of their comfort zone after finding out about this hike through All Trails/Social Media and thinking it was popular enough that they didn't need to be concerned. 

There was a disappointing amount of trash and full wag bags left at the lookout by prior parties. Otherwise, we had a lovely afternoon and evening of basking on the little rock perch outside the lookout, taking in the views of Baker, Glacier, Rainier and surrounding peaks. There is a little "toilet" for peeing only (don't poop in it!!) but you can smell a lot of pee on the rocks because the toilet is located such that many people do not feel comfortable using it with the sheer vertical drop off you look at while occupying it. A lot of volunteer work goes into paying for and executing the upkeep of the lookout-- it is such a cool community project! It bums me out that people leave trash/poop etc. The Friends of Three Fingers generously provides wag bags to hikers at multiple points (at trail signs and in the lookout, though bring your own if you are reading this)-- but it is your job to pack it out! We had 4 of us in the lookout which was a very comfortable number-- technically capacity is 8 but that would be absolutely maxxing out all floor space. 

The next day, we spent a long morning relaxing at the lookout just the two of us before packing up and getting on the trail around 11:30am. We passed several parties on the way down, including folks getting a very late start (4pm) who were expecting to make it to the lookout before dark and did not have tents. While trying to avoid being obnoxious, we did encourage those folks to just stay at Goat Flats. I would not want to be beyond Goat Flats after dark. You should 100% camp at Goat Flats if it is getting even remotely close to sunset. The last couple miles of the trail to the lookout will take you much longer than ordinary trail miles because of the elevation gain and bit of route finding. The final scree/talus/ladders section would be pretty sketchy for most folks in the dark. 

We were grateful to find our bikes where we left them upon hitting the road and enjoyed a very fun breezy descent down the gravel back to the cars. 

Fantastic trip with Kidz Won't Hike to climb to Three Fingers Lookout in a day. The terrain is stunning and the views are turning to fall colors, ripe berries above 5000'. In an effort to optimize for a C2C ascent, we decided to forgo bicycles and the normal route, and go through the direct backdoor. The crux of this route is 2 miles and 3400' of super steep terrain before joining up with the main trail on goat flats. It is not for the faint of heart. There are at least 10 ropes installed to help with steep and slippery sections and blowdowns are everywhere. You will slip and stumble, it's just a matter of how far you fall. 

We arrived at the TH before the washout at 6:15am and there were at least 10 vehicles. 13 people slept at lookout the previous night, 5 of them had to sleep outside. Others had camped in goat flats. We set off by 6:30am heading up the main trail. 1/4 mile in, we turned right on an old overgrown road. Vegetation was higher than us in places and fairly wet, so we put on our waterproof layers. This trail is pretty flat and goes about 1.5 miles. From here, the fun begins. Things open up in the forest, so we didn't need gore-tex anymore. The trail goes straight up for what seems like forever. There are many very steep sections with soft slippery dirt. We wore microspikes the entire way up and down this 2 mile section. I honestly don't know how you'd do it without them. The ropes helped in places, though I mostly didn't use them. About 2/3 of the way up, the steepness eased off and we were on a narrow ridge going up and down. Lots of overgrowth on this part too. Eventually the terrain opens up into some small meadows. This whole 2 mile section is heavily flagged with pink and orange ribbon, very helpful. We still lost our way now and again, but the flagging and the ropes made it easy to get back on track. Once we got into the upper meadows we high-fived that we had made it through. We took a break and then set off on the main trail. There's still a long way to go from here, but the trail is nicely defined almost the whole way. We made our way through beautiful meadows, rocky slopes, mountain passes, side hills, a little bit of class 3 down climbing, and more. Views of the lookout are elusive, since it's tucked behind a large peak. Eventually we arrived at the one remaining snow patch. We headed up, then some more class 3 scrambling, and then we were at the base of the ladders. The exposure is high once you get up the ladders and step onto the final rock slope. The wind was howling and gusting today, so it was nice to get inside the lookout for lunch and a rest. There were 3 Aussies on a USA tour and 1 other person who had stayed 5 nights and was doing lookout repairs and painting. We spent an hour chatting with them while we refueled. The hike out was of course long and tedious, mostly uneventful. About 30 mins after we had left, a plane arrived and barrel rolled and dive bombed around the lookout 4-5 times, so that was cool. The steep forest section with the ropes was even more difficult on the way down, since we were more tired. It took a lot of concentration not to take a fall on the many steep sections. I used the ropes more often to help on the way down. We ended up matching or beating down some groups whom we had passed as they were descending and we were ascending, due to the many more miles required on the standard route.

Stats: 12.4 miles, 5800' gain, 10:35 total time, 2:40 stopped time

Gear: Poles, GTX hiking boots, gaiters, waterproof shell and pants, water filter, gardening gloves for veggie and rock scrambles and using the rope. Snow section was easy, no axe needed, didn't even put our spikes. 

Water sources: A few really good ones not too far below the lookout. The lower one is 48.1672, -121.68947. I brought 3.4L and filled up another 1L. 

GPX: https://www.peakbagger.com/climber/ascent.aspx?aid=2986940

Excellent trip with Glen99 as we each got up to Three Fingers Lookout. We took a direct/straight up approach up to Goat Flats which worked nicely for us, but is a brute, as it gains 3200ft in 1.5 miles.

We got started at 6:25am, and after a 1/4 mile we took a right on a super overgrown road(NF road 035). The vegetation was head high and wet, so we put on rain pants and shell jackets on for this part. In about 1 1/4 mile there is some flagging and a faint trail to the left. This is the climbers path that takes you up to Goat Flats. The first part up to 2700ft is super steep, and there are some ropes set up. We put on micro spikes here, and they helped tremendously!!  From around 2700ft to around 3600ft is where the steepish section is. It is mega steep as it weaves around some vertical rock sections. Again there some sections that have some rope. After this it is still steep, but there are some flattish areas too. Most of the route as some flagging, but this route should only be taken by folks with good navigational skills, as it is easy to get off route, and get yourself into some seriously sketchy terrain.

Once we got up near Goat Flats we ran into some beautiful meadows with tons on berries. The mountain blueberries were especially delicious! We took a break once we hooked up on the main trail, and then headed to the lookout. Along the way we ran into a couple of groups coming down from the lookout after spending the night. The first group was from Canada, and the second group was from Hawaii, Colorado, and Wisconsin.

The views along the way really open up past Goat Flats, and really are quite spectacular at Tin Pan Gap. There is a couple of scramble sections past this up to the lookout. There is a good water source with running water below the lookout at 6500ft.

Going up the ladders were OK. The lower one moved a little bit, but the upper 2 ones were solid. The hardest part was getting up to the final ladder, as it was a tight squeeze with the pack on to get between the rock. The final slope up to the lookout has some slope on it, but there is a rope to help you get up and down. Up at the lookout were three Australians, and a volunteer from California who has been working on the lookout. It was fun talking with them, and we ended up spending an hour up at the lookout before heading down.

On the way down we debated going down the Meadow Mountain Trail, but decided to go back down the way we came back. The steep sections we took our time, and were thankful that we had our microspikes on!

We arrived back at the car at 5:05pm. Awesome day! 12 miles with 6250ft gain

Distance: 14.8 miles hiking (4,900 ft elevation gain), 18 miles biking (2,000 ft gain)
Access: Road open to Canyon Creek Bridge

Trail Conditions

The approach proved challenging, with the first four miles featuring rocky, rooty, and overgrown trail littered with downed trees. Spider webs were constant companions through this forested section—I emerged wearing a new silk sweater.

Trail traffic was minimal. I encountered one hiker descending during my ascent and passed three parties on my return.

The traverse from Goat Flats to the summit block is snow free. Near the summit, a small snow patch required only kick steps. No traction devices or poles needed. The final approach includes a bit of class 3 scrambling. The lookout itself was closed for maintenance.

Water Sources

• Running water at 4,210 ft stream crossing
• Snowmelt available at 6,450 ft before summit
• Saddle Lake and ponds near Goat Flats campsites (stagnant)

Camping Options

• Goat Flats campsites (established)
• Tin Can Gap (bivy spot)
• Saddle before final summit climb (one decent tent spot)