Three Fingers is known for having great sunsets. We were going to climb it in August, but the forecast was not good enough. We rescheduled the climb and got the views we were hoping for.
The road is closed 10 miles from the trailhead, so you start out on mountain bikes. We did not see any bears, but had to ride around a few obstacles that they left on the road. Huckleberries are in season.
Foxglove
Saddle Lake
Three Fingers Mountain. The old fire lookout is on the higher peak on the right.
Stopping to filter some water out of a crystal clear stream.
Dan heading up the old wooden ladders to the lookout.
Jacob, David, Dan and Doug on the summit. We were surrounded by well known mountains: Baker, Glacier Peak, Rainier, the Olympics...
As the sun went down, all the waterways and land masses to the west began to really stand out. It was easy to make out Puget Sound, the Olympics, The Strait of Juan de Fuca, Vancouver Island and The Strait of Georgia.
After the sun went down, we walked back down to our bivy at Tin Can Gap using only the light of a full moon. As we descended, all the city lights began to come on. We could see small and large clusters of lights from Tacoma all the way up to Bellingham.
The next morning, some more of the guys went up for a look. Pete crossing a short section of steep icy snow.
Jim, Ron and Pete enjoying the view.
Heading back down to Goat Flats and the walk through the woods. The 10 mile downhill bike ride was a blast.
We all have jobs and families. It's all we can do to squeeze these climbs into some of our weekends. A few of the guys struggled through injury and illness, while others helped. It's another adventure that we will never forget!
And then there was the guy that interrupted our parking lot BBQ. He fell and broke his arm while taking a roadside picture of a waterfall. Maybe he should take up a safer hobby like mountain climbing. One of the guys drove him down to Granite Falls.
It was time to go home, sleep for a few hours, go to work and get some rest.
