[Bryan K]

I took the day off so I could hike Pilchuck without the crowds that the weekends bring. I arrived at the TH @ 9:10 to find a few cars already there. I took to the trail shortly after and fell in love with the trail immediately. The trail was as wide as a highway in a few spots and hard to find at others. Per a previous TR I knew where to find the snow at it was still hovering around 4200'. I love all of the rock up in this part of the mountains. Much more than I am used to along the I-90 corridor. I made my way up to Little Pilchuck (??) and my Green Trails map showed the traiol going below it but the trail wrapped aroung behind. Not sure where the discrepancy came from but I followed the trail that I could see. As I got up into more rocks I had to watch my footing very carefully, I saw tons of postholes, some went 4-5 feet in. I got to one point and wasn't sure which way to go, the second I found my way, PLOOSH!!! posthole!!!! went in up to my waist, got lucky. That's what I get for standing still on thin snowpack with my legs not spread to disperse my weight. The snow came and went as I got closer to the summit until the summit was in view, then the snow was gone. I got up to the lookout and I had the place all to myself. Awesome views up there. Except for the smog in the distance I could see really far. After 20 minutes of solitude I heard a voice and looked out to see a guy coaxing his 70lb lab up the rocks. The poor dog was whining as his master brought him up. I hoped he would not carry the dog up the ladder, thank god he didn't. I felt bad for the poor dog, probably scared to death. I made my way down and found the guy and his dog at the base of the rocks and I watched the dog so he could take some pix from the lookout. I went down with them and at one point the guy slipped on a rock and tumbled about 12 feet down. He said he was ok, but I'm betting he 's gonna have a big bruise somewhere on himself. With the wet snow he was pretty wet from the tumble, lucky for him it was warm since he was wearing a cotton t-shirt. As we left the snow behind I did the same to he and his dog. Saw a lot of people coming up as I went down. I'm glad the Backpacker Joe suggested I beat the heat and go up early, thanks BPJ. I got back to the lot at 1:00. TH to summit 1hr 45 min. Summit to TH 1hr 15 min I think

Mt. Pilchuck 023

Looks like a fin

The final approach to this refurbished lookout.

Baker in the distance

Three Fingers

Rainier

Lookout

Snow looks like the sandy bottom of a lake

Friendly chipmunk

Plenty of snow still up here

[Opus]

Nice pics! I dont know what posses people to force their dogs into that lookout! Last year I was up there and a guy carried his big black lab up the ladder and into the lookout. By the time he got in the dog was so hyped up and scared he ran in circles around the inside of the lookout wagging his tail so hard it was like getting hit by a whip!

[Dogpatch]

Yeah, I let my dog figure out what she's comfortable with, and don't force anything. Sure wouldn't carry her up the ladder! Here's a little piece of history (from Three Fingers, by Malcolm Bates): one of the first lookouts at Three Fingers took his dog with him for company. Carried the dog (I think it was a German Shephard) up the ladder - but then it turned out that there wasn't enough room up there for the dog to relieve himself. So the guy ended up carrying the dog up and down the ladder several times a day for the duration of the summer! That's devotion for you. Cool pics, thanks.

[silly_traveler]

nice pictures how long did it take you to hike up there with the snow?

[silly_traveler]

oh nevermind, i just saw the time up taa haha