Monogram Lake

Mike and I hiked up to Monogram Lake yesterday, in the North Cascades National Park. The trail is reportedly about 10 miles, out and back. The first three miles are shared with the trail to Lookout Mountain. The trailhead is right off the Cascade River Road, east of Marblemount.

We got the early start, leaving Mount Vernon before 6 AM. Thank you Mike. After a coffee stop, we drove up in the rain--slight drizzle. We stopped at the Shell Station in Marblemount to assess. Funny thing--this gas station sells machetes by cash register, for all those who wish to venture in to the brush, I guess. "Cheaper than Wal-Mart--we buy in bulk." I bought one, and carried it the whole day, occasionally hacking nettles, ferns, and brush. This trail has a reputation for being brushy, and we did pass through one kind of thick section.

This is a hard hike, similar to Sourdough. It is just constant up. We hiked up through a steady drizzle, and while I huffed and puffed, I really enjoyed the trail. It is classic North Cascades forest, going up, with mossy trees, old growth, steep ledges. But it is all up.

We ran into a couple nice guys who had stayed at the Lookout the previous two nights. They said we passed the trail junction for Monogram Lake, so we backtracked with them (down) for maybe half a mile. After further review, we decided they missed the junction coming down, and so back up we went. Nice conversation, extra mile credit.

We found the junction, and at this point I thought we had 500 more feet of climbing, and we'd find the lake in a mile or so. Obviously, in retrospect, I was light on my research and prep. But eventually, after more climb, we came into an open basin, and then the wildflowers started popping. Surprised they were still in bloom, but the full menu was out--lupine, paintbrush, heather, asters, daisies, and so on. I think I saw the most abundant patches of paintbrush I've ever seen.

The blueberries were also abundant. As many as I can remember anywhere, really. Tart, easy to reach for, and very beary territory. We were expecting, hoping to see a bear, safely. Mike might've scared one off--big boom in the brush--but we never laid eyes on one. The reports say they are all over the place, and that's not hard to believe.

The lake seemed to take forever to materialize, and we were starting to wonder if climate change had done away with it, but we pressed on a little further, and voila, a beautiful alpine lake, sitting in a bowl.

We tried fishing, and Mike caught one. Supposedly, you can't fail at this lake, but I didn't bring one in. I did tie up a lure and bobber on a log, and then had to go in after it, because, leave no trace, and all that. Cold, but not unbearable--probably nice on a sunny day.

The return back was much easier, because it was mostly down, once we got back up out of the lake basin. The trail is a little narrow, with many steep ledges and opportunities to trip, and so maybe I'm older, but I don't really think this is a good downhill run.

Great day in the North Cascades, to somewhere new. Big thanks to Mike, who is always great company.