park butte fire lookout
Weather Forecast
Tue, 05.12
Wed, 06.12
Thu, 07.12
.Heavy rain along with rising snow levels Monday into Tuesday will lead to rapidly rising rivers across the area. It is likely that many rivers will reach flood stage late Monday night or Tuesday. ...FLOOD WATCH REMAINS IN EFFECT THROUGH LATE WEDNESDAY NIGHT... * WHAT...Flooding caused by excessive rainfall continues to be possible. * WHERE...Portions of northwest and west central Washington, including the following counties, in northwest Washington, Clallam, Grays Harbor, Island, Jefferson, Kitsap, Mason, San Juan, Skagit and Whatcom. In west central Washington, King, Lewis, Pierce, Snohomish and Thurston. * WHEN...Through late Wednesday night. * IMPACTS...Excessive runoff may result in flooding of rivers, creeks, streams, and other low-lying and flood-prone locations. Flooding may occur in poor drainage and urban areas. Low-water crossings may be flooded. Extensive street flooding and flooding of creeks and rivers are possible. * ADDITIONAL DETAILS... - Excessive rainfall Monday and Tuesday with 7 to 10 inches possible over the Olympics, 5 to 9 inches over the Cascades, 3 to 5 inches along the coast and 1.5 to 3 inches over the interior lowlands. Snow levels will rise to around 9000 feet Monday night before dropping Tuesday. - http://www.weather.gov/safety/flood
(NWS Seattle (Northwest Washington))
Gaia Map
Approximate Route Map
The activities depicted on this site are inherently dangerous and can result in serious injury or death. Any action that you take as a result of information obtained from this site or any information provided through Hike2Hike is at your own risk.
5-2-2015
I set out hoping to hike to the fire lookout up on Park Butte. However, it was not to be. The first part of the trail is easy going and even the switchbacks heading up through the woods towards the base of Mt. Baker are relatively easy to handle, especially for a North Cascades trail.
Once out of the woods the snow quickly became constant as the “trail” continued to wind upwards. Although I was armed with a map, and following in what seemed like the appropriate footsteps of others, I began to realize that my sense of direction or others footsteps were not pointing the right way. I followed other steps without looking at my map or using my compass. Boneheaded mistake.
Since getting home I know where I wandered off too. Nonetheless, I was enjoying the scenery and decided to continue climbing hoping maybe I would spot the lookout and work my way towards it.
6-15-2015
Wanting to get out of the house the wife and I decided to head up to Park Butte for a nice view in this unseasonably warm weather we are having. Just to extend the trip we settled on camping at the trailhead in the few spots (4 with horse camps) that are available.
The campground turned out to be much nicer than I had anticipated. Plus there was no one else camping at the trailhead that night. It made for a great night of laughter, fire, fun, and no need to keep quiet for other campers.The hike was great this time around thanks to some fast snow melt, making the trail obvious as opposed to my last adventure here.
A special thanks to those from the Skagit County Alpine Club for the hard work they were doing to maintain the lookout tower. An excellent little outing to start off the summer right, now that college is out of the way and we can finally relax.