As steep and lovable as ever, Mailbox was a great hike yesterday. Great weather made for an enjoyable (and dry) hike up, but bring your gaiters for the way down. Terrific visibility, snow for the last half mile or so.

If you have a team of horses to help pull you up this trail ... BRING THEM ! It is steep! Plan for about 50% more time than you would need for other trails of the same distance because it starts out steep and never lets up but once you are at the top it is amazing. You look back (West) on Mt. Si, Rattlesnake lake and ledge, Tiger, Bellevue and Seattle. When we hiked it we hit snow about the last 45 minutes, about 1 mile from the top but the trail is established well enough that there were tracks already in place for us to follow so there weren't many concerns as to where to go. Unfortunately the same cannot be said for down below. A lot of the trail isn't very well marked and if you are the first to blaze this trail for the day then be prepared for a lot of guessing - However, you will quickly know if you did/did not make the right decision and can correct it without a lot of time having passed. Highly recommended for the views: http://www.kwa.net/jeff/images/MailBoxPeak/56_dogFindsHydrant.jpg

Started out at the trailhead at 8:50 AM, short walk through the logging road then onto the trail (muddy) which wastes no time making elevation. Soon I was into snow, there were only two tracks ahead of me. There is little in the way of views for much of the hike, but the snow made it pretty and peaceful. I met up with the two hikers ahead of me as we were breaking out of the trees, at this point snow shoes became necessary. This is where it got beautiful. Trudging up the left side of the talus slope was a workout, and after that the final ascent was the best experience of my week, wind-formed cornices to the left, a fair drop-off to I-90 on the right (my water bottle slid off the side, darn! luckily I had another in my pack), the trees had blown snow caked onto their windward sides, and the cloud cover kept me from seeing I-90. After a signing the Dr Suess's book in the mailbox at the top at the top, we made quick time back, slipping, sliding, and making good use of trees and ski poles. We made it to our cars at 2:30.

This was probably this was one of the best days of hiking that I had ever had. The weather was great, the crowds were low, and the view was unbelievable. On the ""rock field"" some snow, and the trail around the rocks was solid ice (recommend crampons, or a lot of patience). Beyond this was not too bad. Very little snow. All in all a great day. But like the original report says ""DON'T CROSS THE RIVER."" Be prepared for this uphill battle. The views are worth it's weight in gold.

I left the Middle Fork Rd. amid a pretty steady rain. The trail to Mailbox is as steep as ever, it is in pretty good shape with some water over the trail. The cool wet weather stole my drive and with the long climbs of the last 3 weeks sapping the strength of my legs, I could only muster it to 2800ft. I did not hit snow and I don't think there is any until the rock slide. I passed 3 guys on the way down, I hope they had better luck than I.