Mount Forgotten

Overview

Located along the scenic Mountain Loop Highway in the North Cascades, Mt. Forgotten lays hidden among the surrounding craggy peaks of the North/Central Cascades in Washington state.

This area of the North Cascades is unique as it gets almost the same amount of rainfall as the Olympic Mountains (up to 140 inches) which makes for some dense forests and many small ponds and tarns. The area was originally developed when gold and silver were discovered but a few years later in the 1890's that boom was over and the area was then developed for rich Seattle tourists. That dried up when the stock market crashed.

The hike up Mount Forgotten is a nice hike that will take you most of the day. Round trip it is 14.5 miles with almost 4300 feet of gain. Forgotten itself has a prominence of 2725 feet. It is a Class 3 scramble from the meadows to the summit, loose in spots. The hike starts through a valley with Big Four Mountain at the southern end. Most dayhikers with families stop at the falls but many continue on to the meadows which are itself a great goal. The amazing views of the summit rocks and the surrounding mountains are worth that alone. And in late summer, the area is full of blueberries and huckleberries which are plundered by hikers. The hike over to the summit begins with a loose downclimb and traverses the east side of the summit rocks to a tarn on the NE corner. From there you ascend a gully to the summit. The true summit is the middle of the three points though most stop at the north one. There is some serious exposure over to the true summit.

Beckey states that early settlers called Mt. Forgotten the "Lady of the Mountains" because it resembled a hooded woman. The rock is volcanic breccia which is cut by dikes. It is a fairly popular hike although probably 90% stop in the meadows and do not complete the scramble to the actual summit.

Getting There

Red Tape

When To Climb

Camping

Mountain Conditions

External Links

• Mount Forgotten Pictures from IBEXtrax.com
  Numerous pictures and map of the Mount Forgotten area.
  
• Mt. Forgotten Meadows Pictures
  Pictures from WashingtonHikes.com .
  
• Perry Creek/Mt. Forgotten Trail No. 711
  Trail description from the Seattle Post-Intelligencer newspaper website.
  
• Perry Creek Trail Description
  From the Seattle Post-Intelligencer newspaper.
  
• Mt. Forgotten Trail to Perry Creek Falls
  Trip report from June 29, 2002 with lots of pictures.
  

Additions and Corrections

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Viewing: 1-6 of 6

Klenke	Untitled Comment
Voted 10/10	To get to the true summit point, which is about 50 feet west of the end-of-trail lesser east point, requires the ability to climb a wickedly exposed 10-foot section of class 3+ knife-edge rock. In my opinion it's actually class 4 due to the level of exposure--both to the left and the right. Plus, it's harder to get back down it than to climb up it. You definitely want to beware of this.
	Posted Nov 4, 2002 8:00 pm

gimpilator	Access Road Update
Voted 10/10	As of 5/13/07 There are several trees blocking the road about 1/4 mile from the mountain loop highway. This adds about 3/4 mile on to the approach. I expect they'll have the road cleared by June or July.
	Posted May 14, 2007 12:04 am

tjmcnitt	Perry Creek Road to be permanently closed
Hasn't voted	The Forest Service announced today, 9/29/08, that the Perry Creek Road is to be permanently closed. Their plan is to expand parking at the Mt. Dickerman trailhead and build a connector trail from there to the Perry Creek Trail. I just confirmed with the Forest Service that the change will add 3 miles round trip to the trail. That means the long 11.5 mile day hike to the summit of Mount Forgotten will soon be a 14.5 mile overnight.
	Posted Sep 30, 2008 6:59 pm

Cascade Scrambler	Perry Creek Road now closed
Voted 10/10	Might want to update the mileage and "getting there" section as tjmcnitt sugggested- with Perry Creek Road now closed, it's 14.5 miles round trip. The new trail from the Dickerman TH to the old TH is super easy and goes by quickly.
	Posted Oct 1, 2010 9:29 pm

	Brian Jenkins	Re: Perry Creek Road now closed
	Hasn't voted	Thanks, will do. Must have missed tjmcnitt's post previously. Thanks. Brian
		Posted Oct 4, 2010 12:53 pm

Dundeel	True Summit
Hasn't voted	On 9/15/12, our group, with Greg Slayden, Bob Bolton, Dennis Poulin, Eric Noel, Edward Earl, and myself, determined that the first point is the highest. We sighted through the first and second points and the line of sight was well below the summit of Mount Pilchuck (5340 ft). This could only be true if the line of sight is downsloping. In addition we strung a line between the two points and the lowest point of the catenary was definitely closer to the second point, once again indicating the second point is lower. A water bottle on its side was used to help visualize level. Some of the top rocks on the second point appeared to be freshly exposed, so it's possible that lightning or someone has modified the second point to reduce its height. At this point, there is no need to scramble the second point to claim this summit. Ken Russell
	Posted Sep 16, 2012 11:49 am

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