Mt. Pilchuck

Casey picked us a great hike for today!! Due to a very unfortunate shoe choice for the football game and a distant parking spot yesterday I came very close to missing out on this hike (hobbling blisters). But Casey motivated me to "get off my duff," as he says, and I am thrilled to have experienced this beautiful, little day trip. My amateur photos only show a fraction of the awesomeness of the 360 views. We were truly in the clouds.

The Mt. Pilchuck fire lookout was built in 1921 when the top of the mountain was blasted to create a relatively flat surface to construct the tower (though it can only be reached by a rock scramble and the structure itself is tethered to huge boulders... not exactly a "flat" surface). Anyway, the tower is no longer used as a fire lookout and has been handed over to the Mt. Pilchuk recreactional area as a day use area. There were some Mountaineers volunteers doing some maintenance and painting today and while Casey got to lend a hand by hoisting up a shutter to be secured, I spent our 10 minutes in the tower clutching the railing with white knuckles. It was definitely time for me to climb down when I pointed out a daring teenager on a rock to the salty old Mountaineer and he responded, "If she slips, she'll die." Next elevator down, please.

Distance: 6 mi r/t

Time: ~3.5 hours r/t

Elevation Gain in: 2224 ft

Elevation Gain out: 0 ft

Trailhead Elevation: 3100 ft

Maximum Elevation: 5324 ft