The drive was a normal level of "rough but passable" for a National Forest road. There are potholes, but they're easy enough to go around or over if you take it easy. The road was completely free of snow. We made it to the parking lot at just about 10:30am and were the 5th car. 

The trail was in good shape. The lower section is switchbacks through the trees with many small waterfall crossings. We didn't encounter snow until close to the top where there was an inch or two on the ground. It was fairly warm, so there was also a plenty of melt and a little bit of ice. We brought spikes but didn't actually need to put them on. Adding a photo of the amount of snow in the trees near the top.

The overall hike was lovely—the switchbacks were a good workout, and the views at the top were awesome. We stopped off for lunch at a rock on a ridge that had a sweeping panoramic view of Sefrit, Shuksan, and Baker. We only encountered two other people the entire time we were hiking: one friendly hunter hanging out on a rock near the top and a woman with her dog descending the switchbacks. 

Winter is here!

Arrived at the trailhead close to 9am and we were the first ones there. We didn't run into anyone until we were almost back to the parking lot so the solitude was nice. Road to the trailhead has potholes here and there but didn't have much trouble getting through in an SUV. 

Just a little bit of snow covered on the trail after the 1st mile. Shortly after we were walking on 1-2 inches of snow... then soon after it was consistently 3-5 inches and the snow on the trees had weighed the branches down so much that we had to crawl super low to the ground to get through. Snow was untouched so we established steps as we went. We made it about 3.3 miles in and decided turned around as our dog was struggling quite a bit with how wet and cold her paws were. We did get some views though! Will definitely be back again to summit. 

We had microspikes and gaiters in our packs but didn't use them since we turned around early. Waterproof boots is a must. Bring additional layers/gloves/hats- it gets cold when you're consistently walking on snow.

Really great hike overall! Got enough breaks in the clouds to see Shucksan and Baker and tons of ripe huckleberries and blueberries. We hiked to about 5500 ft before turning around.

Road: road in was more pot holed than I remember, but still not terrible. Not a problem for SUVs.

Trail: the trail was mostly in good condition. Sightly brushy at some points a couple miles in but overall not bad. Main issue was runoff from the rain following the tread. A lot of the water bars and ditchs weren't directing water so the tread had quite a bit of water in a lot of spots. 

Snow: No snow up to where we hiked to at 5500 ft. Looked like the snow didn't start until 6000 ft or so.

Other Hikers: Saw four other parties including some hunters. Forgot to bring orange except for an orange buff, remember to bring more orange than I did this time of year!

hiked on a Saturday encountered only 4 other parties. The last couple of miles to the summit are steep. The trail required me to pay attention as it was ready to lose the trail. Great hike, gray trail with stunning views.

**Lost green Outdoor Research hat on the last mile or two of the trail, likely near a switchback in the forested section. (Looks like this https://www.outdoorresearch.com/us/radar-pocket-cap-243446) Would love to be reunited with my favorite hat; message me if you find it https://ashleybraun.com/contact-me/**

We arrived at the trailhead around 10am and had no trouble finding parking. The forest service road is mostly paved but has some sections of potholes that require slowing down and navigating around (nothing major!). The first few miles have a lovely soft tread under a shady forest canopy with little undergrowth, which is ideal when you start out with a steady climb and start sweating immediately. A few miles up, the vegetation on the trail starts to get slightly bushy but also full of ripe berries to power you up the rest of the hike. There were still some wildflowers hanging on in the meadows too.

After driving through fog to get there, we enjoyed a bluebird day, with peekaboo views of the mountain peaks and valley as we climbed. We ended up taking a long lunch at the viewpoint roughly 3 miles up, which has sweeping panoramic views of Mt. Shuksan and Mt. Baker, and decided to save the summit for another day when we had fresher legs. Passed some folks and their pups on the trail, but surprisingly few people were out on this lovely hike over the holiday weekend.