Mileage and elevation will depend on which approach you take. We came up from Waptus Lake where we spent three nights and went to all the lakes in the area plus the lookout site. There wasn't much view on the trail until you get to the site. It's pretty amazing there. I don't remember any water up there. When we were there, you had to ford the river to get to Waptus Lake as the bridge had washed out. It wasn't that deep in August, but I would hesitate to do it in other seasons from Waptus. We saw no-one else visiting the site from either direction.