We decided to hike Mt. Pilchuck. It is east of Everett, easy to get to, and has fantastic 360 views. Agnes and her friends came with us.

The trailhead is at the parking lot of what used to be a ski area at 3100 ft. elevation. It helps to start so high, since the hike ends at an old fire lookout at 5324 ft., but it is still a challenging climb.

20070830_MtPilchuck0 It starts out quite wide and stays rocky to the top.

20070830_MtPilchuck1 The trees were beautiful.

20070830_MtPilchuck2 And we could see little tarns (lakes) in the trees below us.

20070830_MtPilchuck3 Sometimes we could see our goal from the trail.

20070830_MtPilchuck4 There were mountain blueberries along the trail. They were quite good up higher.

20070830_MtPilchuck5 Finally we could see the lookout cabin. Some volunteers were painting the wooden rails while we were there.

20070830_MtPilchuck6 I could also see across to Three Fingers (where I hope to hike in a few weeks).

20070830_MtPilchuck7 Along the way, Agnes made a unique two-legged cairn.

20070830_MtPilchuck8 There are angular boulders surrounding the cabin.

20070830_MtPilchuck9 Even though they are quite solid, you still get a rush because the mountain falls away from them so quickly.

20070830_MtPilchuck10 And the view at their edge is so spectacular. My favorite hikes take me to mountain tops!

20070830_MtPilchuck11 We relaxed and visited for quite a while.

20070830_MtPilchuck12 It was good to catch up on news.

20070830_MtPilchuck13 But in the end, we had to go back down. It was a good day.

Pictures taken by Lindsey and I.