Did some trail maintenance and summited Mount Catherine for the first time as the last time I attempted (1.5 months ago), I was concerned about avalanche conditions. How quickly the snow has melted :/...

Road conditions are messy, like I remember from the last time I came up 2 years ago. The road's pretty washboard, with some large dips in sections, and is single lane for most of the road. I was surprised how many folks there were up top, but for most intents and purposes, the travelers all had SUVs and pickups. For the record, this is one of those roads that I travel very carefully and slowly on with my CrossTrek, since the drop off of the road is pretty sheer in sections and all it takes is a little nudge for it to happen.

The trail itself is in ok shape for the amount of traffic it receives, however, it needs a lot of brushing and the trail in the last 0.1 miles before the summit really needs to be clarified. I did my best to brush on the way up, widening the trail prism by clipping back shrubs and fir branches that had encroached over the trail. I was mostly successful in the first 0.5-1.0 miles (I widened the trail prism out from 1' to 2'). However, there's a lot of work beyond that until the summit that needs a larger crew of folks (there are chokepoints about 1'-1.5' in the last 0.5-1.0 mile before the summit). I tried to clarify the summit route by blocking a scramble that folks had been using (me included, before I realized my error), which was risky and eroding the trail. Following the switchback off to the right will help prevent the trail from eroding more in the social scramble section. That being said, both paths will erode based on use. It might be wise to build off the social scramble by putting in more rock work or steps with railroad ties.

The only blowdown up the trail was easy to duck under, but it probably wouldn't hurt to take it out. It's about 2' in diameter, located around 1.1 miles, and might be removable with a chainsaw (since it's not in a wilderness area IIRC).

Although the area doesn't require dogs be on leashes, I really appreciated everyone putting their pups on leashes and keeping track of them (I was unsure since there wasn't a bulletin board to check at the start, nor signage). The trail is narrow enough in areas and there were enough dogs that having dogs be off-leash wouldn't have been sustainable (dogs must be within 6' of their owners and be under voice command).

Phenomenal summit views! 360 degrees of mountains! Short but aggressive hike just like the description says. Good for newbs and kids with a fantastic payoff. There was very little snow left. The summit was slightly sketch but not bad at all like some reports kind of hinted at. Bugs were pretty bad up top tho. Wish I had brought spray. Multiple mosquito bites. The dirt road was bumpy but most cars were fine, there’s one part in particular that was bad about 1 mile from the trail head. I did use my 4x4 but I’m in a light weight truck without sandbags and just needed that extra grip to not slide around. It was very busy on a Sunday but everyone was super nice and used common sense like experienced mountain people. 

Had a great hike with beautiful weather yesterday! Arrived at the trailhead around 9:45 and there were two others cars. Only saw one group on the way up and had the summit to ourselves most of the time. We took a long break to enjoy the views so it took us around 2.5 hours total. There were a couple of patches of snow but very easy to cross. Saw more folks coming up on our way down, but still wouldn’t call it crowded.

As others have noted, the road to the trailhead is very bumpy and I’d recommend a high clearance vehicle. Did fine in a Jeep

Also, I’d recommend bug spray. The top was buggy

Amazing views at the top.  The road up I would only recommend for SUVs because of the potholes and rocks.  

Have to be back in town by afternoon? Need something short, sweet, uncrowded and with big rewards? Perhaps looking for just enough of a hike to justify a burger at Commonwealth? Mt. Catherine might be the ticket. It’s only 3 miles roundtrip, you get a workout on a pleasant trail with no crowds, and takes you to a real summit with 360 views.  

It’s 20 minutes up the gravel road from the Hyak exit offI-90 to the trailhead, just ¼ mile or so short of Windy Pass. The one notoriously rough corner stopped low clearance cars like a Prius we saw parked there, but taken slowly it was fine in our medium-clearance Highlander. Couple other rough spots. Couple mosquitoes at the trailhead but not bad. 

The trail starts off inauspiciously on an unmarked old gravel road, with no specific trail sign just a “hiker only” marker. In about 1/3 mile enter old growth and switchback up on very nicely graded smooth trail. With 1300 feet of gain in 1.5 miles it’s a nice lung-enhancing grade. Good viewpoint when you first reach the ridge at about 1 mile, and a last little 30 foot pitch with cable to hold on to the outcrop on the top. Great views all around. Rainier looked huge from here.

On this beautiful Sunday we saw only about 10 – 12 parties the whole time.