Green Mountain

July 23, 2016

There is a historical lookout perched atop the summit of Green Mountain that has been the topic of a legal battle, pitting the wilderness preservationists against the historical preservationists. After a recent restoration project, it looked like it was going to have to be dismantled and removed. Finally a settlement was reached and it was allowed to stay via an act of Congress and signature by President Obama. The lookout has on the National Register of Historic Places since 1987, and it is a popular destination. However, the Park Service had permanently closed it to protect it from vandals. Sadly, these idiots exist even on the tops of mountains. I love our historical fire lookouts and visiting this one has been a desire of mine for a few years.

Green Mountain is located in the North-Central Cascades outside of Darrington. It's a busy trail, so we arrived at the trailhead in time to hit the trail at 9am. There were already a dozen cars there, so we knew we would have a little company. For the third week in a row, we were starting off in heavy cloud-cover which we were, of course, hoping would burn off before we reached the summit.

Elbow deep in foliage

Considering the amount of foot traffic this trail sees, it was in GREAT condition! It started out immediately climbing with moderately difficult gain, steadily carrying us up 1600 feet of elevation in roughly 2.5 miles. We hiked through beautiful forest and along the face of the ridge where the thick vegetation grew 3-4 feet tall. The cloud cover stayed with us, teasing us by thinning a bit, then thickening up again, giving us only peeks at what lay beyond. 

We crested the shoulder of the mountain and looked out over a beautiful, pastoral meadow located in a bowl below the mountain. There was a picturesque tarn of crystal clear water. It's glassy surface reflected back the greens and blue-blacks of the trees and boulders of the mountainside behind it. We stood there a moment, enjoying the view. Then it came. The swarm. A cartoon swarm of mosquitos mobilized in a thick black arrow and diving straight for us. We could almost hear a miniature bugle signal their attack. They dive bombed us with a precision any modern day military air force would envy. We armed ourselves with various insect repellents, which caused our assailants to pull back momentarily, but only to re-strategize their offensive. We found that the best defense was to cut and run - so we beat a hasty departure across the meadow, seceding it to our adversaries. Even so, they sent some advance teams out who waged a singular aerial assault, stealthily landing on clothing and impaling us through the cloth. Insidious little creatures.

Having survived the swarm attack, we now faced a 1200 foot climb in just a little over a mile. The trail switch-backed up the face of the mountain, through alpine meadows, rock outcroppings and copses of dwarfed alpine trees. Up and up we climbed, higher and higher up into the clouds - which, I'd like to point out, weren't showing signs of burning off any time soon. The final 1/4 mile is along the top of the summit's arm. We had a drop-off to the right that probably offers some impressive views when not under cover of a thick cottony blanket of clouds. The presence of the clouds added a sense of mystery and suspense that you'll never experience in a movie theater - you have to get out and live it. In places you couldn't tell where a snow field ended and the clouds began.

We climbed up over the last few boulders to the summit where we were met with a most spectacular surprise .. the lookout was open! As part of a park service pilot program, a few volunteer rangers had hauled their gear up for the weekend and opened the lookout. They shared part of her history, the story of her restoration and her future plight. These volunteers stayed the entire weekend up there and would be lowering the shutters and locking her up tight when they left. How successful this program is this summer, as well as availability of trained volunteers, will determine if she is ever opened up again - so this may well have been a once-in-a-lifetime experience for us. 

Our group on the lookout; Dan, Myke, Bill, Evie and me

Marmot amongst the wildflowers

We ate our lunch then headed back down. In addition to her controversial lookout, Green Mountain is also well known for its celebrity marmot. Known as the "Greeter of Green Mountain", this marmot sits on a large, flat boulder and whistles greetings to all the hikers passing through his front yard. We got some good marmot loving from him as we followed the trail around his perch - he's a very talkative chap. A little further down the trail we encountered a large female standing tall, protecting her den. She was beautiful. A bit further down the trail, just before our earlier battlefield, we heard a Pika chattering a warning to us. I pointed her out to the others, then responded to her tirade with a resounding "Eep!, Eep Eep!". Apparently I speak Pika-ese, as she stopped screaming at us, tilted her head and responded with a singular "Eep!" then sat quietly and watched us pass. The mosquitos were busy mounting a blitzkrieg against another group of hikers, so we were able to pass with minimal trouble. From there it was smooth sailing to the trailhead.

Once back at the trailhead we celebrated a successful hike, lamented the absence of a view, and all agreed that this was a trail to be hiked again. Mosquitos be damned. I felt good after completing this trail. Green Mountain has rightfully earned a place at the top of my favorite trails list and I expect to return next year ... with stronger insect repellent.  

"Without new experiences, something inside of us sleeps. The sleeper must awaken." ~Frank Herbert

Hike 39 of 52
Distance: 8.5 miles
Elevation gain: 3300'
Highest elevation achieved: 6500