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Hidden Lake Peak / Fire Lookout (summer & winter overnights)

Hidden Lake Peak / Fire Lookout

Route:

Sibley Creek Trail

snowy early summer conditions & winter conditions, snowshoe

June 2008: I spent the night at the Hidden Lake Lookout, doing some night photography.

Dec 2009: People don't often go up to the Hidden Lake Lookout in the winter. Spending the night surrounded by snow-encrusted Cascades was a unique and beautiful experience. The long night and moonlight was also ideal for some more of my 'Lookout Night Photography'! More below about my overnight adventure capped off by a harrowing drive when a storm dumped snow on the road below where my car was parked.

Region: Washington

Elev: 7,088 ft (summit, "Hidden Lake Peaks North"), 6,890 ft (lookout, "Hidden Lake Peaks South")

Type:

Trip Report 1:

Summer overnight

Date(s): June 28&29, 2008 (Sat&Sun)

Partner(s): solo

Trip Report 2:

Winter overnight

Date(s): December 27&28, 2009 (Sun&Mon)

Partner(s): solo

Related trip reports:

Evergreen Mountain / Fire Lookout

Lookout Mountain / Fire Lookout

North Mountain / Fire Lookout

Park Butte Fire Lookout

Pilchuck Mountain / Fire Lookout

Sourdough Mountain / Fire Lookout

Three Fingers Peak / Fire Lookout (summer & overnights)

Winchester Mountain / Fire Lookout (winter overnight)

Windy Joe Mountain / Fire Lookout

Fire Lookout Structures of Washington

This page contains two trip reports for a overnight stays at Hidden Lake Lookout.

Map

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Fire Lookouts of Washington

While I lived in Washington, I tried to visit as many of the remaining standing fire lookouts scattered about the mountain ranges of Washington as I could. Click the following link to go to my webpage on fire lookout structures of Washington, which gives a bit of history of fire lookouts as well as a complete listing of the remaining standing lookout structures in the state.

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Labeled Panoramas

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The views from the Lookout are amazing. To the west lies Puget Sound, and in all other directions are jagged peaks: to the north, Baker and Shuksan; to the east, Eldorado, Torment, Forbidden, Boston, Sahale, the peaks of the Ptarmigan Traverse; to the south, Glacier Peak, Buckindy, and Snowking; and many many more. On a clear day, you can even make out Mt. Rainier.

My goal on this trip (other than night photography) was to get a nice panorama of the view and make some labelled panoramas, such as the ones below!

Intro

THIS TRIP REPORT IS STILL MOSTLY IN THE EMBEDDED HTML FORMAT OF MY OLD WEBSITE.

GENERAL INFO ON HIDDEN LAKE LOOKOUT

The Route

The hut is on top!

Trailhead:
The Trailhead (elev. 3,500 ft) is 4.7 miles up Sibley Creek Road. Sibley Creek Road is about 10 miles up the Cascade River Road. The road can often be partially closed for washouts, blowdowns, or snow.

Trail:
It's about 4 miles and 3,400 ft from the trailhead to the Hidden Lake Lookout. This isn't much, but it usually takes a few hours due to steep terrain and beautiful views. (FYI: Hiking the Sibley Creek Road adds 4.7 miles and about 2,300 ft to each end of the adventure.)
In the summer, getting to the lookout is a mellow trail hike, but in the winter getting to the lookout requires skiing or snowshoeing, often most of the way up the Sibley Creek Road too. There are several avalanche prone slopes en route, so the snow conditions should be considered before heading up there. The Sibley Creek drainage in particular is a frequent avalanche path, so in the winter or early spring is usually best to cut right shortly before reaching the drainage and ascend the timber to the treeline at around 5,100 ft.

The Lookout

Aerial photo by John Scurlock in January 2006 showing typical winter conditions at the Lookout. Link to John Scurlock's stunning aerial photography.
The Hidden Lake Lookout (elev. 6,900 ft) is an old Fire Lookout built in 1931. It is a gable-roofed L-4 cab style. It was last staffed in the 1950's, and it role in fire prevention has been phased out by aerial fire patrols, but the lookout is still in good condition and hikers can stay there on a first-come first-serve basis. It is maintained by the Friends of HLLO, and anyone who stays there should do their best to respect the Lookout and keep it around for others!

Trip Reports for Hidden Lake Lookout

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PHOTO TRIP REPORT

The weekend of June 28-29 (2008) promised cloudless 80-degree weather in the North Cascades, so I headed up to the Hidden Lake area, planning to scramble up Hidden Lake Peak (labelled "Hidden Lake Peaks North" on maps) and stay overnight at the Hidden Lake Lookout (which is on top of "Hidden Lake Peaks South"). I've always wanted to stay at this Lookout, which is perched on the end of the Hidden Lake Peak ridge, with a spectacular view of the surrounding North Cascades and Puget Sound. Along with my crampons and ice axe for the early-season-high-snow-year snow cover, I threw into my pack a couple of candles, a camera remote, some extra camera batteries, and a tripod, in plans to do some night photography in and around the Lookout.

Below are some photos and more detailed information from my gorgeous 2-day adventure.

The 4.7-mile Sibley Creek Road up to the Hidden Lake Trailhead has been closed the last couple of years due to washouts and downed trees. This adds significantly to the mileage and elevation gain of the hike. (But I discovered that the road is drivable for the first 2.5 miles….) In a way, I am thankful for the road closure and deep snow cover this year, as it has kept the crowds away. Over the last few years, the hike had become quite crowded due to its spectacular scenery and short approach, and I never got the opportunity to stay at the Lookout which is occupied on a first come first serve basis.	The sign at Hidden Lake Trailhead. From the Trailhead (el. 3,500 ft), it's about 4 miles and 3,400 ft to Hidden Lake Lookout. This isn’t much, but it usually takes a few hours as the terrain is steep and too beautiful to allow a quick pace. Hiking the Sibley Creek Road adds 4.7 miles and about 2,300 ft to each end of the adventure.	I hit snow about 1 mile from the trailhead, just as the trail exits the forest. Even though I knew it was a high snow year, I was still surprised at how much snow was up there! But its mostly gentle slopes and easy route finding, so I had no trouble making my way to my destination.
On my way to the Lookout, I climbed Hidden Lake Peak (7088 ft), which is just a snow slog and short scramble to the summit from the west side. I descended down the easy ridge towards the Saddle between Hidden Lake Peak and the Lookout. This photo shows Hidden Lake Peak as seen from near the Hidden Lake Lookout.	The view from the top of Hidden Lake Peak is spectacular. This photo was taken looking south towards the end of the ridge where the Hidden Lake Lookout is perched. To get to the Lookout, you have to cross the snowy face and ascend the ridge on the left skyline - the snow was loose and steep, but passable with an ice axe for protection.	Hidden Lake Lookout as seen from near the Saddle between Hidden Lake Peak and the Lookout.
Since Hidden Lake Lookout is perched on top of a rocky peak, water would be scarce (unless I wanted to melt snow), so I scrounged up some plastic Ziplocs and filled these with snowmelt near the Saddle.	Hidden Lake Lookout and its spectacular surroundings.	Hidden Lake Lookout, Elevation 6900 ft.
Inside Hidden Lake Lookout. This old Fire Lookout was built in the 1930s - its role in fire prevention has been phased out by aerial fire patrols, but the lookout is still in good condition and hikers can stay there on a first-come first-serve basis.	There are lots of things to read and look at in the Lookout, including these rules for keeping the Lookout in serviceable condition so other hikers can enjoy it for years to come. The lookout is well-maintained by a group of volunteers called the Friends of Hidden Lake Lookout.	Evening colors inside Hidden Lake Lookout.
More evening colors and spectacular views from inside Hidden Lake Lookout. I can't think of a more beautiful place to spend the evening.	One of the things I wanted to do while at the Lookout was some night photography. In this photo, I took a 20-minute exposure of the Lookout, situating my camera so the North Star was located in the frame and lighting a candle for 10 minutes to give the warm glow in the windows.	Here is another of my photos I took at night (I didn't sleep much). In this photo, I set the camera up inside the Lookout and took a 30-minute exposure looking out the windows towards the southwest, capturing the stars streaking through the sky and the distant urban glow lighting the sky.
Morning colors on the Hidden Lake Lookout. After my night photography, I managed a couple of hours of sleep before my alarm woke up for sunrise!	The ice-covered Hidden Lake as seen from near the Lookout. This lake is a popular overnight or day-hike destination during the later summer, and is a short bouldery hike down from the Saddle between the Lookout and Hidden Lake Peak. I took this photo as I began my 3-hour descent back to my car over 5000 ft below

Cozy candlelight in the Lookout. (Exposure: 7 min, f/5.6, ISO 400)

TRIP REPORT
Snowshoeing up to the Lookout and spending the night sleeping in the hut and doing some night photography was a great way to cap off 2009. Looking through the old summit registers indicates that there are very few parties who ever come to the Lookout between October and April, but it is certainly a unique and beautiful time to do so. There is nothing like waking up surrounded by snow-encrusted North Cascades.
Conditions were great for snowshoeing, and it took me less than 4 hours to snowshoe up to the Hut from the trailhead. When I drove in, Sibley Creek Road was surprisingly snow-free for late December, and I drove all the way to the parking lot. But this was to change overnight. The forcasted winter storms arrived a day earlier than expected, and it had started to snow when I woke up in the Lookout the next morning. My first thought was: "It's beautiful out there!". My second thought was: "My car is parked at the top of a steep and lonely dirt road, surely getting snowed on, and if I can't get my car out today, it will be until the June snowmelt before I can get it out. I better hurry down there."
At every steep switchback on the Sibley Creek Road (there are 7 of them, I know them all very well now), my adventurous Subaru would take a harrowing slow but uncontrolled slide towards the edge. But it always stopped in time. Finally, I was on pavement, and back into the even more harrowing world of civilization.
Below are lots of great photos of the wintertime Lookout!

PHOTOS: The hike in (Click on images to enlarge)
	Snowy trailhead.
	The summer route goes up the Sibley Creek Drainage shown. Stick to the trees if the slide danger is high....
	On the approach.
	The final approach involves crossing this slope. This can be dangerous if there are slide conditions. On the way up, I chose to traverse high right below the upper rocks, which was a steep and deep wallow with a fun ramp-digging episode to get over the cornice. On the way out, I chose to traverse low (outside the photo), which was not as steep and deep but takes a longer route.
PHOTOS: The Lookout (Click on images to enlarge)
	The door was only buried by about 3 feet. A dry week had melted any rime from the lookout walls, but the snow buildup began to arrive the next day.
	Peeking inside.
	The Lookout is really an amazing place to have on top of a North Cascades peaklet.
	About time to go outside and do some photography. Nothing better than evening lighting in the winter. (This is a photo of a skier who was also spending the night at the lookout with her friend.)
	Winter sunset.
	Cozy candlelit Lookout. (Exposure: 5 min, f/8.0, ISO 200)
	Cooking dinner inside the Lookout. (Exposure: 2 min, f/8.0, ISO 320)
	Eating dinner inside the Lookout. (This is a photo of a pair of skiers who were also spending the night at the lookout.) (Exposure: 16 sec, f/8.0, ISO 320)
	Colorful night. (Exposure: 2 min, f/8.0, ISO 800)
	Notice there's another photographer braving the cold just left of the Lookout. (Exposure: 4.5 min, f/8.0, ISO 200)
	Orion above Lookout. (Exposure: 30 sec, f/5.0, ISO 1600)
	Taking a break inside to warm the hands. My camera doesn't need a break. (Exposure: 30 sec, f/7.1, ISO 200)
	Weather moving in. Cozy candlelight in the Lookout. (Exposure: 7 min, f/5.6, ISO 400)
PHOTOS: Views from the Lookout (Click on images to enlarge)
	Torment, Forbidden, Boston, Sahale, Booker.
	Alpenglow on Hidden Lake Peaks and The Triad.
	Photograhing Glacier Peak in it's winter spendor shortly after sunset. (This is a photo of Scott (I think) who was also spending the night at the lookout with his friend.)
	Near the Lookout.
	Nice contrasts at twilight. This shows the view looking east from the Lookout. Hidden Lake is below. Major peaks from L to R: Hidden Lake Peaks, The Triad, Torment, Forbidden, Boston, Sahale, Booker, Cascade Pass, Johannesburg, Spider, Formidable.
	Moonlight on Hidden Lake Peaks and The Triad. (Exposure: 30 sec, f/5.6, ISO 800)
	Orion above the moonlit North Cacades (Forbidden, Boston, and Sahale on left, Johannesburg and Spider on right). (Exposure: 30 sec, f/5.0, ISO 800)
	Weather moving in overnight. (Exposure: 5.5 min, f/5.0, ISO 400)
PHOTOS: Getting out (Click on images to enlarge)
	No spectacular winter sunrise, since a weather system moved in overnight. The three toy soldiers on the window sills are a bit lonely, and need some troop fortification and maybe some cavalry on some of the other sills....
	Steep and snowy switchbacks in the middle of nowhere are a great place t break in the chains I've had sitting dormant in my car for a few years.... I hope the 2 skiers didn't have to leave their car up there until the spring snowmelt, as I'm not sure how much worse the road was by the time they got back to their car....