To beat the heat today, my friend & I started hiking at 6am, and we didn't see anyone else until we were half way down from the top. About 1.3 miles in, we emerged from the woods and into a very overgrown bushy section for a little under a mile. It's so overgrown that at times it was hard to see the ground and I accidentally slipped down once since I couldn't tell it was more slopey at that spot. But views started to open and we could see Glacier Peak better and better. Then it was a bit more of woods until we got to a small lake just a bit under the 3 mile mark. We can see the lookout from there, and it looked so discouragingly far away. But I was surprised to find that it's not bad at all the last mile up. Marmots were whistling at us as we got up (likely because they saw my dog). There was a really large one on a rock just below the lookout, and there were also two juvenile ones hanging out around the lookout. They were boxing each other and generally not afraid of us or my dog, who was staring at them. 

We did not see a chewed up hiking pole as mentioned in the previous post. It's probably a trophy hanging on the wall of a marmot den by now. 

The lookout itself was closed. Even though google map said it's open 9-5 M-F (we didn't believe that, just thought it's funny Google gave it hours of operation). The railing on one side had collapsed but the other 3 sides were solid. 

Mosquitoes started to get bad around the small lake area, and it's probably the worst at the lookout.  The views on top more than make up for the blood donation to the mozzies. 

No snow on the trail at all, and the couple down trees were pretty easy to step over.

Our GPS said 8 miles round trip and 2800ft elevation gain. 

The road in was pretty long, it took about 1.3 hours from the turn off of 503 to the trailhead. It was paved for about half the way. Potholes were annoying but not horrible. Parking lot itself was relatively small, probably will fit only about 10 cars. But the road goes a little bit beyond the parking lot so parking along that section is likely ok.

Well. A marmot stole our hiking pole. More on that later. 

My husband was delighted to finally take me up Green Mountain for an early anniversary hike. Our compromise in planning was to hike it in July before the heat of August, sacrificing the ripeness of berries later in summer,  but we thoroughly enjoyed the wildflowers and views! We did time it with the heat of July, but an 8 am start time avoided the worst of the heat.

The road up is navigable, though exercise your pothole-dodging skills. (I actually enjoy the challenge). Terrain-wise, the trail is pretty consistently inclined to make your cardiovascular system kick nicely into gear, and stay that way. If we stopped, we were devoured by mosquitos. Best to not stop. We set out at 8 am with one other car parked, though we never saw the hiker, and had the place to ourselves until passing 8 people in 3 groups on the descent.

Glacier Peak is my husband's second love,  and boy are you constantly rewarded with stellar views during the hike! It's absolutely worth the climb. I marked this as snow-free, but there are a couple of lingering areas trailside where one can ice ones knees, or scrape down to clean snow and store under your hat for a cool down.

All of this leads to the lookout. Gorgeous views again, and adorable marmots crawling all over. I had a lovely time chatting with them and taking their beauty shots, up until one screamed EVER so loud about 4 feet from me and I jumped just about as high. We had a good laugh, snacked at the lookout until the bugs won the war and chased us off, then went to collect our poles. My husband had left his maybe 10 feet from the lookout. One remained. The other? Gone! Where? There! In that marmot's possession as it chewed on the handle and dragged the pole across and over the ridge. Couldn't believe it. So, if you happen upon a well-chewed green Black Diamond trekking pole on Green Mountain, please let me know. I'm not planning to use it again, but it would make a fun wall mount. 

Anxious to return to summit Green Mountain. I brought reinforcements, (a co-worker who loves hiking). 

We cruised up the trails. We were through the meadows within the hour and taking our first break where I had decided to turn around some 15 days ago. This time, the snow did not slow me down or cause me to lose the trail. There's barely any snow left on the trail. Micro-spikes need not apply. 

Bugs: They were relentless at the trailhead as soon as I opened my vehicle door. They were in the meadows but seemed to be occupied with other things. They were at the lookout but if you stay on the South side of the lookout, mainly where the wind is blowing, they leave you alone. 

Forest Service Road: Bumpy, pot-holed and wash-boardy. Once you make the turn at the Green Mountain sign, the road gets infinitely better. 

Trail Conditions: Very little snow to slow you down. Some snow on the upper reaches of the Green Mountain slopes but nothing on the trail. The trail has some muddy spots and one or two small creek crossings but nothing of significant. The trail is easy going with very little to keep your pace at anything but moderate. There are a few down trees but they're easily stepped over. 

Anything Else I Might Have Missed: The last portion of the trail once you break out of the valley floor gets pretty steep but we kept a moderate pace and summited in two hours eight minutes. The meadow switchbacks are quite overgrown and our pants were soaked in the early morning dew. Coming down in the afternoon was hot and buggy. 

The lookout was locked. 

We passed a party of two at one of the lakes as we were going up and passed a party of eight as we were going down and another party of two with heavy packs with intentions of camping. I also found tent stakes on the trail, (red in color). If they're yours, lets arrange to get them back to you. 

If you hike this trail, take it at a good pace and really soak in the views. The views are world class! Glacier Peak, Mount Baker and all the other significant mountain peaks were showing off today. The rolling green hills, the beautiful clear lake and the Marmots all were put on display today. It was a very incredible, well worth the time and effort it takes to get here. And this is right in our own backyard. 

Trail was easy to follow with incredible views the whole way. I’d recommend long pants and sleeves since a good chunk of it goes through brush (the wildflowers were beautiful!). Snow patches were small and easy to cross without any traction. Definitely my new favorite hike.

Several recent reports for this one, so I'll be brief. 

The road is its usual self. It's a long trek through a lot of gravel before you hit the turn up to Green Mountain and the road has quite a few pot holes at times. The last 6 miles up to the trailhead is actually in much better shape. 

There are a few blowdowns about one mile up, just before you hit the first meadows, but are easily crossed. 

The lower meadows, roughly 1/3 of the trail, have a lot of plants overgrowing the trail so long pants are helpful. If someone helpful person with a machete feels like spending an hour or two of their time they could make quick work of it. 

There are a couple of very small snow patches near the small lake before you make the last big climb. They're essentially flat and will probably be gone in a few days. No snow impacting the last climb. Leave your microspikes at home. 

Bugs were present, but not too bad. I killed a large horse fly and saw a few mosquitos. 

Good views from the top. Maybe a hint of smoke from the fire near Chelan, but not bad at all. Plenty of flowers, but I agree with the other recent poster that the best is probably still yet to come.