Hiking Mt. Forgotten, August 2, 2003

Distance (both ways):	around 11 miles (17.5km)
Elevation gain:	3,900ft (1,190m) + some ups and downs
Green Trails Map:	111
Passes:	Northwest Forest Pass required to park a car near the trailhead

Useful Info

This hike is accessible from the Mountain Loop Highway. The first part of the trip is along the Perry Creek Trail (#711) -- its page contains driving directions to the trailhead. Also, don't forget to check the trail conditions (you have to scroll half way down the page to trail #711) or the weather forecast.

The Perry Creek Trail is steep but well marked and maintained all the way up to the lookout point (see the map). Roughly at that point it turns into a confused web of little paths which discourages some hikers from reaching the meadows just half a mile further down. So after you have ejoyed the view of Mt. Baker from the lookout point, just continue East and soon the trail will become easy to follow again. It will take you through beautiful and relaxing Mt. Forgotten Meadows. Follow the trail to the very North edge of the meadows for a great view of the East side of Mt. Forgotten. If you still have some energy left, continue on to Mt. Forgotten.

The officially maintained trail ends at the Meadows. From there on it is narrow, often quite steep, and partially blocked by tree branches and bushes. There are a few places where it splits but all routes seem to reunite quickly (so the choice doesn't really matter).

Our Trip

On August 2, 2003, Todd and I hiked up to the top of Mt. Forgotten. We started from the parking lot at the head of Perry Creek Trail (#711). We followed this trail across the little water falls and all the way to its end at the Mt. Forgotten Meadows. Near the end of the trail we stopped at a very nice lookout point (see the map). From there we had a very good view of the West face of Mt. Forgotten. To the North, we could also see the distant snowy slopes of Mt. Baker.

Having rested for a while, we continued to the North edge of Mt. Forgotten Meadows (see the map). From there we could quite clearly see parts of the trail winding up the East side of Mt. Forgotten. From the Meadows, the trail drops very sharply some 50-100 feet into a little saddle and then continues along the side of Mt. Forgotten until it reaches a small rock slide on the North-East face of the mountain (near a small pond that appears to be permanent enought to be marked on maps). As it turns out, this is the most convenient way to reach the top. After scrambling the rock slide for some 200 feet, the rest of the way is a steep but perfectly walkable trail that goes all the way to the top. Since we could not quite see that from the bottom, and follwing the advice we received from other hikers who told us to go all the way around to the North face of the mountain, we scrambled up along a much biggeer and less pleasant rock slide on the North side of Mt. Forgotten.

GPS coordinates corresponding to the waypoints on the map:

Lookout:	N 48° 05' 19.6'' W 121° 27' 16.8''
View from the Meadows:	N 48° 05' 25.3'' W 121° 26' 30.3''

Below are some of our pictures from the hike. Click on any of them to see the larger version.

August 02, 2003 picture by Krzysztof Gajos The first part of the hike	August 02, 2003 picture by Krzysztof Gajos Todd and I by the Perry Creek Falls	August 02, 2003 picture by Krzysztof Gajos Todd and his new spiffy hydration system
August 02, 2003 picture by Krzysztof Gajos The West face of Mt. Forgotten Taken from the Lookout point	August 02, 2003 picture by Krzysztof Gajos Todd and Mt. Forgotten	August 02, 2003 picture by Krzysztof Gajos Todd and Mt. Forgotten
August 02, 2003 picture by Krzysztof Gajos Mt. Baker Taken from the Lookout point	August 02, 2003 picture by Krzysztof Gajos Todd and Mt. Forgotten "I think I we can make it!"	August 02, 2003 picture by Krzysztof Gajos The East face of Mt. Forgotten Taken from the Meadows
August 02, 2003 picture by Krzysztof Gajos The East face of Mt. Forgotten Taken from the Meadows	August 02, 2003 picture by Krzysztof Gajos View from a saddle point on the way to Mt. Forgotten	August 02, 2003 picture by Krzysztof Gajos Ballet
August 02, 2003 picture by Krzysztof Gajos Scrambling towards the top of Mt. Forgotten	August 02, 2003 picture by Krzysztof Gajos From the top of Mt. Forgotten	August 02, 2003 picture by Krzysztof Gajos From the top of Mt. Forgotten
August 02, 2003 picture by Krzysztof Gajos From the top of Mt. Forgotten	August 02, 2003 picture by Krzysztof Gajos Todd on the summit of Mt. Forgotten	August 02, 2003 picture by Todd Millstein Krzysztof on the summit of Mt. Forgotten