Quick day hike up mount Catherine. We got to the trailhead at 1pm and there were plenty of spots. We decided to walk the extra 3 miles RT because of the road washout others have mentioned. Looking back my RAV4 could have made it just fine. We saw lots of sedans doing it, just take it very slow. 

No views at the top, but still nice to spend some time outdoors. I can tell fall is coming, we saw blueberries and some of the leaves are slowly changing. 

We arrived early evening (~5:30pm) and the road conditions were quite awful. There were a many potholes (not as bad/deep as the Mt. Pilchuck trail), a few washouts (passable), but about ~1.4 miles away from the trailhead, there is a pinhead shaped road where there is a VERY rough/boulder-y area. I would not recommend driving over that specific area if you have a sedan-like vehicle unless it's a junk car that you don't care about being scraped up badly; a high clearance vehicle is highly, highly recommended. Also FYI, the trailhead can be difficult to spot (a small opening/gap between trees/bushes) but look for the sign #1348. 

The majority of the hike (80%) was a moderate incline with a few plateaus in between. We didn't notice too many bugs. The top is a steep cliff with an almost 180 degree view of the mountains/hillside. Overall, it took about 1.5 hours to get to the top with frequent breaks and about 40 minutes to hike down. 

I followed the forest road in a Toyota Corolla. The road has lots of dips and fairly deep pot holes.  There are three washed out areas, the first at the hair pin turn is the worst.  Take these washed out areas very slowly and you should be ok.  The trail is rocky at first then smooths out as you climb higher.  Quite steep at the top.  Be careful.  Good views of Silver Peak, etc.  No road noise throughout most of the hike.

A short hike with a constant uphill grade, this hike delivers INCREDIBLE views at the top!

After viewing some of the other reports, we opted to leave our car at the hairpin and hike the extra 1.4 miles to the trailhead. In retrospect,  our Crosstrek could have handled the ruts with ease.

The trail itself is consistently steep most of the way, with a few level spots about a mile in. Certainly not the easiest hike I've ever done, but not terrible either. 

It's all worth it when you Crest that last little bit of climbing and there is Rainier there to greet you. 

Magnificent!

I wouldn't bother on a cloudy day, unless you just like to hike for the sake of hiking. 

Total mileage from the hairpin turn was exactly 6 miles.