[Redwic]

Gimpilator planned a hike to Lookout Mountain, located east of Marblemount, on Sunday (July 26). I went along, as did Gimp's friend Raymond, and Robbin, whom we met in June while hiking Mount Jupiter in the Olympic Mountains.

The trail is STEEP, and easy to be underestimated. To help put it into perspective, the trail is approximately 4.7 miles long, ascending 4550' elevation from trailhead to summit. The first 2.8 miles of the trail has approximately 3000' elevation gain, mostly through beautiful thick evergreen forest... definitely a good workout.

We made great time, especially considering that Raymond is not an avid hiker and this was Robbin's first hike in the north/central Cascades (she mainly hikes in the Olympics). We left the trailhead at 9:30 AM, and arrived at the summit at 12:40 PM. Then we took a 1h35m break at the lookout tower. Then it only took us a little less than two hours to get back to the car.

The flies on this trail were HORRIBLE... not the worst I have ever encountered in the Cascades, but pretty close. At least we did not have big mosquito problems. We initially called Gimpilator the "Lord of the Flies", but that honor soon went to Raymond, who had a hilarous (albeit semi-effective) manner in which he swung his arms and trekking poles to swat flies.

The trail is easy to follow. The wildflowers in the upper meadow areas were abundant. The temperature was hot, probably especially with the humidity we could sense. There were a few small patches of snow near the summit, which was nice to fill my hat with to keep cool.

And... surprise, surprise... there is an actual lookout at the top of Lookout. A nice one, at that, with a great view in each direction. Highly recommended!!!

This is a great mountain to see Baker, Shuksan, Eldorado, the Devil Peaks, Whitehorse, Triumph, Hidden Lake Peaks, Snowking, the Pickets, etc.

[JimK]

The flies weren't biting but they formed a black cloud around you if you stopped. Very annoying. Here is a shot of the lookout on Sunday.



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Hiking Northwest

[Magellan]

Sorry to miss this one.  Glad you guys had bluebird skies.  More pictures please! 

[Gimpilator]

Other than the flies and splashing pure deet into my eye, I had a blast.  I'm glad you came on this one.  Thanks for doing all the driving too.

Here is an informational page I made for Summit Post with more photos
http://www.summitpost.org/view_object.php?object_id=533949

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http://www.summitpost.org/user_page.php?user_id=25744

Keep climbing mountains and don't slip!