This trip report is for the Mt Washington off of I-90 and not the one on the Olympic Peninsula. Although it drizzled a bit now and then, this was a great hike. I recommend it to more experienced hikers. I chose the ""roundabout"" route and was happy I had done so. The short cut route is only for those willing to do a fair amount of bushwhacking. Not a single other person was seen on this entire hike. The views were many and quite nice. It is not the most ""natural"" of hikes because the area has been logged, but you can still appreciate the land itself. Many familiar peaks could be seen. At the top there is a small weather station.

On the high ridge road bordering the Cedar River Watershed, I saw bear prints in the snow. They were probably not more than a day old. The tracks headed toward Mt Washington, but I didn’t see any bears. The forest is pretty dense to the north of the road, so almost anything could have been hiding in it. I also saw bear scat a couple other places. Animals that were seen: a brown rabbit, a couple of chipmunks, a humming bird, and many banana slugs. Lots of evidence of burrowing animals in the meadow near the summit. Many wildflowers too.

Take Exit 38 off of I-90 and go south. Turn right at the first opportunity. You’ll see a sign indicating a toilet. Drive a short distance to the trailhead. You ascend a trail that then joins a road. A short while later the road joins the Iron Horse Trail (an old railroad bed). Walk west on the Iron Horse Trail and keep an eye out for the first real trail to your left. There is no sign, but it is an obvious trail. You will dip down into a small ditch and then go back up again. This trail will take you by several rocky outcroppings. Some have nice overhanging rock that you can get under to stay out of the rain. One of the overhangs is quite large and has a bunch of climbing bolts on it. You cross a tiny creek a few times. After hiking for a while, you come to a fork. Go right at the fork where there is an arrow cut into a tree and it says ""HIKE"". There is also another arrow pointing left where it says ""BOB"". (I don’t know why Bob needs permanent directions.) The trail is a little rocky in places, but overall it’s pretty nice. Hike some more and you will come to a fork right before a crossing of Washington Creek. Washington creek is bigger than the one you just crossed a few times earlier, but it is still very easy to cross (just a jump). It may dry to a trickle by late summer.

At this point you can decide to take a shortcut or the roundabout route. When you are at the creek you can see ""Camel Rocks"" above to the west of you. I didn’t take the shortcut, but it seems like your best approach would be to scramble up the slippery rocks and bushwhack your way to Camel Rocks. From there you can cross the ridge, dip down a bit, walk on a trail, and then head straight up the mountain.

Right before you get to Washington Creek, there is an arrow on a tree that says ""BN"" under it. I’m not sure what BN means, but follow it and it will take you on the roundabout route. The route is much longer, but it is not steep and there is almost no bushwhacking. There were a few small sections on this trail where snow was encountered. However, the snow is mostly flat and presents no hazards. The summit was snow free with nice places to sit.

A little while after being on the roundabout route, you enter an area with young alders bowed over by the snow. Many were cut at from 2 ft – 5 ft off the ground. Be careful you don’t get poked somewhere you don’t want. This is as bad as the trail gets. Later you come to a logging trail. Keep following it up and to the east. You will see some stone arrows that you can follow. This takes you up and around Mt Washington’s eastern neighbor peak and brings you to what has been called the ""Great Wall"". This is really cool. It is a ridge that has been plowed flat into a road with a steep drop off on either side. There is a pond down below to the East (I call it ""Right Triangle Pond"" and a couple ponds down below to the West. When you reach the main ridge, head right for some flat walking on a logging road until the road forks. You can head straight up to the summit between the forks.

R.T. Distance: roundabout route: 14 miles, short cut: 6 miles, Elevation gain: 3,200 ft, Summit elevation: 4,400 ft