The Trail:
The trail starts pretty level, after the first half mile or so it becomes a noticeable incline and remains so until you reach a saddle a little over 4 miles in. It’s a beautiful part of the trail, surrounded by tall pines.

 

As the pines start to thin (about 2.5 miles in) you can spin around and see Lake McDonald in the distance.

As your elevation increases, so does the view. It is truly beautiful and I found myself more than once having to remember to look where I was going instead of at the mountains.

A nice spot to take a break is a saddle between 2 mountains in the Apgar range. The view of either side of the range is awesome.

From the saddle you are less than 2 miles from the lookout. Once past the saddle, the trail goes along the mountainside at a slight incline with a pretty steep drop to the right of the trail into thick brush. The lookout is visible off in the distance.






 

For the last part of the hike you go right up the ridge to the lookout. It’s a step final push to the end. Once you get there, kick off your boots, grab a snack, and soak up the mountains! You can see for days up there.

The day I was there the bugs were out in numbers, if not for the breeze they probably would have been bothersome….
 

Don’t forget the bug spray!
 

a look up the North Fork