I went up to the Eagle Peak saddle today, and I'm glad I went early before all the lightning and thunder and rain began. It was a lovely day, and the first time I've been up this trail. As with most trails in MRNP this one was in extremely good condition. Wide trail, gentle climb, well constructed. The last 1/4 mile IS quite steep and a bit rough. I didn't try to climb the last bit up to the top of Eagle Peak. It looked too steep of a scramble for me, and the reward of the top didn't look any better that the reward from making the saddle. From the saddle I could see Mt. Adams, Mt. St. Helens, and even Mt. Hood, and of course Rainier was most impressive. With binoculars I could make out at least 50 people on their way to Camp Muir. I waited for about an hour to see if St. Helens would do something, but not today. Only two other ladies shared the trail with me today, and a very small doe with 2 even smaller fawns. This trail is WELL worth a try if you haven't done it before, and you're looking for something to do inside MRNP.

Hiked to saddle, ~5600', beginning 5:30 pm. Patchy snow beginning 4800'; trivial postholing; gaiters optional. Smooth trail in vg condition. Steep final section via switchbacks. RT 3:00 + :20 break. Met one other hiker/photographer descending as we went up.

Eagle Peak Saddle beckoned our midweek group of 9 with the promise of a good workout and reward of terrific views. We were not disappointed. The trail is in excellent shape and easy on the boots. One blowdown about a mile up, no problem stepping over. Packed snow on trail begins about 3800 ft and 12-18 inches at Saddle. We carried our snowshoes & crampons but did not need to use, however suggest you carry with snow in forecast. We experienced a few brief snow flurries. Stats, about 7.5 mls round trip, close to 3000 gain, Saddle high point 5650 ft.

Hiked to 4300' level; about 12"" of very consolidated snow there. After substantial warm rains earlier this week, was hoping for a hard crust, so left the snowshoes in car. However, crust was only moderate, and each step above ~3900 was a collapsing posthole. No other recent human tracks above 4000', although trail route is still obvious. See other reports here detailing this beautiful, well-graded trail. Planning to return to snowshoe here in mid-season.

Snow covering the trail around 4300', just before creek crossing. Trail clear to that point.