Distance: 8 miles
Elevation gain: 3100 feet
Trailhead directions and more on WTA.
My GPS tracks
Center: Suiattle River (from Suiattle River Road)
Right: Glacier Peak Wilderness sign
The Suiattle River Road opened up late in the season last year after being closed for a number of years after storm damage. This restored access to the Green Mountain trailhead, and I was eager to do the hike before word got out and all of Seattle started to pour into the area. When I told my brothers that we were going to drive 20 miles down a road that has been washed out by a storm before, they were dubious and reminded me that we do not have good luck with river roads. But it was a 0% chance of rain, so we were okay. The river itself is quite beautiful, and it was tempting to just go swimming instead.
Left: Tiger lily
Center: Western Pasqueflower
Right: Lupine on the trail
Cars were parked down the road when we arrived, and I was afraid that the crowds had begun already. But people were spaced out pretty well on the trail, and we got enough solitude. There’s not much of a lot at the trailhead, so once this trail gets popular, people may end up having to park pretty far down the forest road.
Left: Butterflies
Center: Glacier peak and wildflowers
Right: Butterfly
The first 1.5 miles isn’t terribly interesting, mainly switchbacks through the forest. The grade wasn’t that steep, but for me, it was the first hike of the summer after months of almost no exercise, so I struggled. There has definitely been a good amount of trail maintenance done since the road reopened because other than a few minor blowdowns and some overgrowth later on in the hike, the trail was in perfect condition.
Left: Trail and Glacier Peak
Right: Green Mountain – the shaded section is the summit/our destination
Once the trail exited the woods, views started immediately. And there was (appropriately) lots of green stuff. The trail was always visible but sometimes partially obscured by overgrown foliage. I wasn’t paying much attention and ended up stepping in a few holes where the trail was uneven. This section reminded me a lot of the Crystal Peak trail, with the long switchbacks facing a mountain range and a volcano.
Left: A pond with a happy dog in it
Right: Western pasqueflower and Glacier Peak
Flowers didn’t seem like they were at peak, but we got a nice variety: tiger lily, columbine, paintbrush, lupine, and more. There were also lots of butterflies – more different types than I’ve seen on a hike before. Most of them would fly away before I could get a photo, but we found a cluster of the blue-violet butterflies I saw on the Bean Peak trail, and they were more cooperative.
View from Green Mountain
Much to my dismay, the trail headed downward (I was not happy to see this part of the trail on the way back). Our destination, the fire lookout at the top of Green Mountain, finally became visible. Before this, I had no idea which peak we were actually climbing because everything was green and there were plenty of high points. There were some ponds here, the first and only major water source we passed, and a dog from a nearby party happily jumped into the water.
Glacier Peak
To get to the top, we had to go up steeper switchbacks with the sun beating down, and finally we reached a ridge leading to the lookout. The views here were spectacular, with mountains all around and the Suiattle River valley leading up to Glacier Peak. Peakfinder wasn’t very informative with these mountains, and from my pathetic peak knowledge, I could only name Glacier Peak, Sloan Peak, and a mostly cloud-covered Mt. Baker. Later, I found a partial panorama with labeled mountains.
Left: Sign about the restoration of the Green Mountain fire lookout
Right: Green Mountain fire lookout
The lookout was locked and is obviously still being actively restored. There were lots of boards in the area, and the viewing platform on the outside was missing on one side of the lookout. There were a number of people at the summit, but we found a non-busy area on the cliffy side of the fire lookout and enjoyed our lunches. It was surprisingly chilly and I put on my jacket, which I hadn’t expected to use. We stayed up there for awhile, dragged our tired bodies down the mountain, and woke up with extremely sore legs the next day.
View from Green Mountain (photosynth)
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