Flies! Trail (and access road) are both in fantastic shape - recent brushing on the lower meadow section is great - but the biting flies will bug you all the way to the summit. The big ones appear from the pond on up. Two couples I met turned around because of them. I'd still do the hike in this condition, but make sure you have lots of STRONG repellent. The ""family-grade"" spray we had didn't do anything. Look for frogs at the crossing of the pond outlet stream.

Yeah, So it's a common hike, but it's my first time there, so I'm excited about it, ok' The flowers in the upper lower (') meadows are at their height right NOW! The lower lower meadows are waning, and the meadows beyond the tarns are just beginning to bloom. It was very quiet on Green Mtn yesterday, and only the sounds of dripping rain and the strange call of grouse could be heard all day. It even snowed on us a little bit. The bugs will be fierce in about 3 days, I'm afraid. They were ever-present, but thier wings were soggy, holding most attacks at bay. They'll be pissed off and hungry the next sunny day we have, so be warned. The lower trail is in near-perfect condition. Adam Coles' Rock French Drain Parquet Rip-rap Turnpike Drain Dip Culvert that WTA built 4 years ago is still holding up perfectly. The retread and re-route WTA did last summer is real nice. The brush on the backslope of the new sections has grown back nicely; so nicely that in some places, hikers are already beginning to migrate to the edge of the trail. There is one Mystery Structure built last summer; a Rock Drain Dip Culvert Turnpike with a Gap in the Middle which was built to divert seep from the surface of the trail to underneath the trail and down the mountain. Well, it works - the water is not where it was last year. It is now running on the trail about 3 inches east of Mystery Structure, which is bone dry. This is known as seep creep. Listen closely, and you can hear the stream saying ""Ha, ha, Nanny nanny poo poo"" at trailworkers as it happily bubbles down the trail. The work that the Mercer Island Youth Group did in the upper lower (') meadows is a very fine long stretch of trail. It stopped me dead in my tracks, and I stood and admired the hell out of it for awhile; especially the rock curb wall. No mystery here - it's sheer genius. From the top, the views of fog were stupendous. Paul positioned himself where the view of Glacier Peak would be had if it were clear, and held a photo of Glacier that I had brought, and we all looked at that. I do not have a photo of Buckindy et al, but I'm workin' on it. I still find it hard to believe the Masses hike this trail on hot sunny days. ""Yer nuts!"" is all I have to say about it.

Took about 2-1/2 hours to drive from Seattle up the Suiattle to the Green Mountain trailhead. The trail is essentially snow free. Bugs were moderate, not that bad really but repellent was good. Flowers are great right now. The views from the lookout are incredible - the Ptarmigan traverse, Glacier Peak, etc. Looks like a lot of snow remaining on north facing slopes around Glacier Peak. about 3 hours hiking up, 2 hours down.

I do believe that I can, unofficially at least, declare this trail open for the hiking season. This is not to say that there is no snow left on the trail, one patch near the top is even a little nerve racking because of its steepness, but enough snow has melted to make this trip reasonable for all but the most timid hiker. For me, this trip started as most do: spur of the moment. I proved myself a little more brave and a little more stupid than I ever thought I was before. I didn't even get on the road out of Kirkland until about 4:00 in the afternoon. That put me at the trailhead at about 5:50 or so. The drive up the Suiattle and Green Mountain Roads is in pretty good shape. I managed 40-60 on the Suiattle Road; great shape. The six mile Green Mountain Road does leave something to be desired, but is perfectly reasonable in any type of car. The bottom half of this trail is about the most perfectly engineered and maintained trail that I have ever seen. Once it enters the meadows at about a mile, some rocks start appearing in the tread but boo hoo, the flowers more than compensate for this and the trail is still great. The upper part of the last meadow before the lakes is at its climax right now. Every flower under the sun is blooming here. Once the corner is turned heading toward the lake basin, snow is encountered quite suddenly. This snow is easy to follow with lots of footprints and an obvious path. The lakes are still about half frozen over and surrounded by snow. The section right after the lakes heading toward the meadow wall of Green Mountain is always the trickiest. Do not follow the footprints straight through the flat area. This is a marsh and there are countless streams flowing under the snow. Trust me, my right foot and lower leg got to know one of them quite well. Just as the wall of the mountain is approached, there will be a band of trees to your right. Head toward the far (right) side of these trees and you'll pick up the snow-free trail. There are still some snow patches on the meadow wall, but they are all short and only one of them presents a problem. A hiking pole of some sort is recommened but an ice axe is by no means necessary. Once the summit ridge is reached, the whole panorama of the North Cascades is revealed. Truly striking. Also where the ridge is met, follow a faint trail to the right a short ways to find a perfect little sheltered campsite with this great view. Snow will be available for water for awhile, but in late summer, water will have to be hauled up from the lakes. Soon after this, the summit is reached. Take at least a few minutes and gaze around. This is one of the best vantage points in all the North Cascades. The view from Dickerman is broader, but the view here is much more spectacular. The spires and snows of Snowking and Buckindy near to the north make a particularly striking impression. The entire length of the Ptarmigan Traverse can be seen; from Dome to Formidible and Johannesburg. Glacier Peak dominates the view to the east with its north facing glaciers. Even Bonanza, far to the east, commands attention. To the south, Sloan, Pugh, and Whitechuck are quite striking. Looking west, Three Fingers and Whitehorse stand guard over Darrington. I didn't leave the top until about 8:00. This would easily give me enough time to get below the snow before the sun set and also provided me with a lot of solitude on the top and the way down (I was last down on this day). As it turned out, I didn't need my headlamp even in the dark forest near the bottom. The full moon helped and it didn't get completely dark until I was down. The drive back was uneventflul but I managed to get into a stop and go traffic jam at 11:30 at night in Everett! What is wrong with Seattle'

Have not been here in for about a year and a half. But always a great destination. The road was okay but there are some jolting potholes and some definite irregularities but passenger cars can manage it. The trail is fine and snow free until the level area just before the lakes. Emerging from the forest and eyeballing the incredibly lush green meadows was invigorating. Columbine, lupine, paintbrush, phlox and others along the route. Snow down to the lake area. We took the direct route up and the snow gets a bit thin. So we approached the lookout (still closed) from the left. Totally new creosote smelling planking on the deck. We followed others' lead and followed the trail down but it still is at least half under snow. High clouds made it less than crystaline but still a wonderful day to be out in the mountains. Oh, yeah, the state patrol had I-5 well-covered on the drive out of Seattle this morning.