[Matt]

Date: 1/28/17 Destination: Lookout Mountain 5699 (USGS Big Devil) Party: Matt, Dicey, Snowdog, BarbE, Steph Abegg Our original goal was Oakes & Acorn peaks. The starting point on the Bacon Creek Road is at only 700 feet, so I thought we'd be able to drive that far. Nope. The road was snow covered almost from the start, but had existing tire ruts so we tried driving up it. About a mile in, I steered wrong, veered out of the ruts, and got stuck. After half an hour of digging and pushing, we got the car back straight on the road, but decided not to try driving the additional 1.5 miles for Oakes. So instead we went to Lookout Mtn. The Cascade River Road was plowed to the Forest Service boundary, and then had compact snow and ice on the road, but it was low enough that we made it to the trailhead.

Stuck on the Bacon Creek Road

Lookout Mtn trailhead

Lookout Mtn GPS track

The trail itself was snow-covered about 2000 feet, but it was compact snow, and so we never needed snowshoes. Above 4600 feet, we stayed on Lookout Mtn's northeast ridge crest, rather than follow the trail where it crosses a wide avalanche slope. Around the saddle at 5100 feet, the rest of the group decided to stop for the day. Once again, I forgot to take a photo of anyone before we parted ways. I decided to continue on to the lookout, and was able to find a path that stayed in trees or on lower angled slopes up to the top. Earlier the sun had been lighting up all the peaks eastward, but it dropped into a band of high clouds just as I arrived at the lookout. The lookout still provided a surprisingly good view of many of the subranges of peaks in the area. The photos below pan around clockwise from northwest to south.

5 labels

Looking northwest to Baker & Bacon

Shuksan & Blum

Despair & Triumph

The whole Picket Range, also showing why Trappers Peak is such a fine viewpoint.

Big Devil & Six Hellions

Looking up Teebone Ridge to Little Devil, and then Baksit (Middle Devil) on the left

Eldorado standing above Marble Creek Cirque

Ex Spire, with Forbidden, Buckner, a corner of Boston, Triad, and Sahale

Hidden Lake Peak & Lookout, with Johannesburg peeking around its left shoulder, and Spider & Formidable on the right

Core of the Ptargmigan Traverse – Spider & Formidable, Sentinel & Old Guard

Looking further down the Ptargmigan Traverse to Sentinel & Old Guard, Sinister & Dome, Spire Point, Sonny Boy and the Bruseth peaks

The peaks southward: Razorback covers most of the foreground. Main horizon peaks include Snowking, Tommy Thompson, Boulder & Jordan. Peeking up in the background are Glacier at left, Chaval in center, and Sloan at left.

Below the clouds, there was a band of hazy but clearer air above the horizon, so I decided to stay and see if there'd be any interesting light at sunset. Meanwhile I shoveled snow off the walkways, enjoyed my soup and tea inside, and entertained myself identifying peaks. As the day ended, the sun never re-appeared, and the light just faded to dimmer and darker gray.

A hint of color on the snow below the lookout

Tea on the lookout, with Pickets and Big Devil

Faint color in the west, above Sauk, Bald, and the Sisters Range

Twilight view of the peaks we'd originally intended to climb today

Round trip 9 miles, 5000 cumulative gain, 9:40 hours Back at the trailhead, I found a sheriff's car waiting for a tow truck, because some other car had gotten stuck about a mile farther up the road. On my drive home, I decided to check conditions on the Suiattle River Road as well. I drove ten miles up the road, where the snow was about 6 inches deep. Tire ruts on the road continued onward, but I decided that was as far as I wanted to go by myself in the dark.

[KarlK]

Your photos are terrific (as always)...

[mbravenboer]

Thanks for road conditions update in the area and the Suiattle River Road. I've been curious how much snow & ice there is, and it sounds like it's not trivial to drive.

[fourteen410]

Magnificent!

[Stefan]

Love the smile from Dicey while Matt sits on the ground!

[Justus S.]

Great pics Matt looks pleasant.

[Nancyann]

Thanks for the labels on the pictures, Matt. Fantastic!

[iron]

your pic of mystery ridge with oakes in the foreground gave me pause --- pause that it was connected somewhat reasonably. alas, i see there is 'some' amount of work to connect the two, but i did have the thought that a nice little loop, even a backpack, could be made from oakes to damnation to the thornton area. stash a bike up at thornton lakes TH and you're good to go!

[contour5]

Some fine views from the lookout. Thanks for the labels on the photos; they're always helpful for getting a better grasp of the landscape. Hmmm, Mystery Ridge...

[Matt]

[Matt]

I added labels to a couple more of the photos.

[D. Inscho]

A fine effort Matt, considerable even without snow. Great index of surrounding peaks too. Any evidence of roof leaks on the inside of the structure? The flat roof has proven quite a challenge to pin down the compromised area. Any loose shutters? Thanks for any info.

[Distel32]

[Matt]

[D. Inscho]

Thanks for the news Matt. There are are a few shutters missing so some uncovered windows are normal.