Evergreen Mountain Lookout (05Aug11)

Now that the snow has somewhat melted in the Cascades (it only took until AUGUST!), I thought it would be time to get out there and hike a bit. I love hikes that have history behind them so I decided to go to the Evergreen Mountain Lookout* which is perched high on Evergreen Mountain overlooking, among other things, the Beckler River valley. This was also a great time to go as the FS road that goes to the trailhead is finally open and repaired (been closed since 2008). *See the Mount Baker-Snoqualmie USFS website for further info on the lookout's history and rental information.

First things first, I usually have a very good sense of direction, but that apparently doesn't apply to forest service roads. I started up in the right direction, but then thought I was going the wrong way, went back down and took another road 5 miles out of the way only to come to a dead end. So, I finally get going the correct way and nearly get clobbered by the big dump trucks that are going who knows where up Beckler Rd (FS 65). Once I get to Jack Pass, which is more like Jack Crossroads, I go on FS 6550 for about a mile and then make a hairpin turn onto FS 6554. YES, finally on the right track! The first thing that I encountered about 2 miles up 6554 was this sketchy looking bridge...

Notice how it's made of wood and some of that wood is a bit crumbly. Hmmm....well, the gate was open so I thought, "Proceed!" No problem and it felt quite solid under my truck. Up and up and around several bends and up some more for about 6 more miles I went. Luckily, I only met one other vehicle coming down as this road is almost smaller than a one lane two-track that goes straight down on one side. There's very little space for more than one car and I drive a Tahoe. BUT, the views from the road were pretty amazing! I saw one guy with 3 Golden Retrievers hiking up the road and once I got to the trailhead, there was one other vehicle there. So, I pretty much had the place to myself. AND, if anybody is wondering, you get pretty good cell reception at that trailhead. I know this only because I forgot to turn my phone off and it rang after I got my pack on.

The beginning of the trail is rather steep, but it sort of gets less steep in a still going up kind of way. After looking at a topo map and checking this out on Google Earth, I thought it'd be a sweet little ridge walk and it was, but the ridge kept going up. Views start almost immediately

as the trail climbs up through an old burn area. I managed to see one actual wild animal which gave me a bit of a start as it slithered across the trail, but once ascertaining that it was merely a garter snake, I shooed it off and kept going. Shortly, I met two older gentlemen and cute black and white dog who where on their way down. They were very nice and told me that there were a few blow downs, but I shouldn't have a problem and that the last 15 minutes or so was on snow. Again, not a problem. They had made it all the way up to the lookout. I thanked them, bid them good day and continued on my way.

What they didn't say exactly was that a pole vault was needed for one of the blow-downs. I felt like there should have been a panel of judges to score the fancy over-under duck walk thing that I had to do to get over and under this thing and then not five feet after, a vault over a fat log to a nice finish. I give myself a 10. ANYWAY, up through the woods I go and then out into the meadow.

The lookout is getting closer! Just another stand of trees to go around and...the snow. The other thing that the nice gentlemen didn't say was that they were actually snowfields of death. I got over the first two piles of the dirty white crap with little problem. The third one was a bit more dicey.

I couldn't see any footprints, had these two really been up here? The final straw was the 4th snowfield of death that showed no hint of trail and a nice chute down to a valley (ravine?) below that would have required SAR to come get me. Sadly, I decided to turn around not reaching my goal. Perhaps people will think I'm a weenie, but the long and tall of it was that I was a female hiking alone without snow traction devices for the feet and not much confidence in my snow travelling and step kicking abilities. I found a way around the snow on the way back and that's all I'm going to say about that.

I had just finished taking some pictures in the meadow and was starting on my journey back to the truck when I heard a loud bark sounding rather close and coming from the woods. The woods where I was headed. Since I could see that I was the only vehicle parked at the trailhead, this was a bit startling. I was stuck and whatever wild animal sounds like a dog was between me and the safety of my truck. So I started singing. I made up a song about wild animals getting the heck out of my way otherwise they'll get poked with a stick! Anyway, a few feet into the forest, I spied a Golden Retriever running up the trail and then another and another and then comes the guy. WHEW! Nice dogs, nice guy and if he heard me singing my ridiculous song, God bless him, he didn't say anything!

I returned to the truck without incident, changed into my comfy Vibram 5Fingers and got to going home. It was a good hike even if I didn't reach my intended destination.

"For the Lord is the one who shaped the mountains, stirs up the winds, and reveals his thoughts to mankind. He turns the light of dawn into darkness and treads on the heights of the earth. The Lord God of heaven's armies is his name!" Amos 4:13