Mt. Pilchuck

This morning my brother and I got up and headed past Granite Falls to climb Mt. Pilchuck. It was a beautiful clear day, but very cold. It was about 20˚ when we started up the mountain. The trail was covered in snow but it had been clear and cold for several days so the snow was very hard and frozen. Parts of the trail that have had heavy foot traffic previously was complete ice.

We made progress up the mountain intentionally slower than normal. We didn't want to start sweating, being wet in the cold weather is never a good plan. We eventually made our way up and out of the thick trees and were hiking in the sun. The sun warmed up the frozen snow and ice hanging from the trees enough that chunks of ice were falling from above. We only got hit a couple times by some of the smaller falling chunks. In the clearing we were presented with a great view of Mt. Rainier to the south.

When we reached the peak the fire lookout was closed. There were 4 other people up at the lookout when we arrived. We hung out on for a few minutes and ate some snacks and enjoyed the surrounding mountain views literally in all directions. After we soaked in the views we headed back down the mountain, and just in time too, on our way back down we counted nearly 50 people on their way up to the peak. That makes for a crowded lookout that isn't even open. On our way down the trekking poles came in very handy. The trail was very slick in lots of areas and some sort of traction would have been very helpful, but we didn't have that. Trekking poles helped prevent more falls than the 3 or so that I took.

Region: North Cascades, Mountain Loop Highway
Distance: 6 miles
Elevation Gain: 2200 ft.
Peak Elevation: 5324 ft.
Difficulty: Medium
Pass Requirement: Yes, Northwest Forest Pass.

As always check out all the photos from the hike and every hike by clicking on the "Photos" tab.