The old highway, off HWY 12, is out - as in the bridge is washed to the side of the road! This trailhead is not accessible.

Contrary to the report on the website, there are several large blowdowns on the trail. Hikers can get around, but a couple will present trouble for stock.

Trail #285 and its continuation No. 284 to the Trails End lookout site is in excellent condition, having received recent maintenance. Not a single blowdown to step over. A sign at the trailhead alerts horseriders to a dangerous creek crossing for stock at high water. (No word about hikers potentially getting washed downstream early in the year.) This time the crossing of Davis Creek was easy, just one step. There is not much the trail maintenance crew can do against the rodents critters that continue to burrow tunnels in the soft soil on the steep meadow slopes along the upper end of the trail. Sinkholes in the trail are a continuing potential hazard. Watch your step in the open meadows! We counted 70 different species of wild flowers in bloom. FS Road #63 is in good shape. Fallen rocks at 2.9 miles from the paved road limit the navigable width of the road, but everything except a Hummer can get through. Note that the description in ""100 Hikes in Washington's South Cascades and Olympics"" 3rd Edition is no longer accurate because the hike now starts on FS Road #63. Spur 057 (old #6310) is closed to vehicle travel because the upper bridge across Davis Creek is gone. This adds 1.4 miles to the total length of the hike.

Purcell Mountain doesn’t get many visitors. Some of the reasons are, 1) Road 63 is a ONE lane road with very few turnouts and you need a high clearance vehicle. 2) Road 057 has been closed, add another half mile to the trip. 3) There is no bridge over Davis Creek and it can only be crossed this time of year when the flow is down. 4) Trail 285 has not been maintained, there are dozens of blow downs. 5) BUGS; this is the worst bug trip I have been on all year; I had to apply several applications of DEET, and that did not stop 10% of the attackers. 6) Mountain Beavers; These critters have undermined much of the upper trail between 4000 to 5000 feet. There are many vertical holes burrowed in the trail and hidden by overgrowth; these holes are potential leg and knee poppers. 7) This is a dry and hot trip, bring about 4 liters of water.

No pain, no gain, you say, OK, for those few of you that are still interested, here are the good things. The trail has an easy grade all the way to the top. The first thousand feet is in second growth trees and is well shaded. The last thousand feet is an open slope full of the usual flowers, however, only the last 200 feet is in full bloom this late in the year. Purcell is a former lookout site and has usual grand vista. You can see Rainier, Adams, St Helens, and some peaks in Oregon. The most interesting local sites are views of High Rock and Whalehead Ridge.

Headed to the Purcell Mt Lookout trail at 11:30. Walk abandoned road for 2/3 mile to start at the trailhead. Trail climbs gradually through forest for 1 1/2 miles then reaches flowery meadows where trail starts switchbacking. At 3 miles a junction left heads 8 miles to Hwy 12. Take the right branch and ascend the ridge still among a profusion of wildflowers. After a short forested stretch the site of the former lookout is attained. There the views extend to Mt Rainier, Mt Aix, Goat Rocks, Tatoosh Range and Mt Adams. My hiking group of 5 had the trail (and access road) to ourselves. Highly recommended.