Nice hike up to Mount Catherine summit on a sunny afternoon for the views of Mt Rainier, Mt Stewart, Silver Peak, etc..  Some hard packed snow/ice the last 50 yards up to the summit.  Road a bit rough the last 1.5 miles with lot of folks taking the option to stop there and walk up to the trail head.

Hike up Mt. Cathrine on a blustery, rainy, fall day! I didn't feel quite confident in my car making it up a certain portion of the road, so I parked it about one mile down from the trailhead and ran up from there. The trail itself was in great condition except that the heavy rain was causing streams of water flowing down portions of the trail - not an issue if you are prepared for it, but something to think about and prepare for. Parking where I did (at the hairpin turn apx. a little more than one mile from the trailhead), made the round-trip mileage about 6, and the elevation gain about 2,000ft. 

I have been wanting to do this trail for awhile. The 2.5 miles feels a bit short for me. Looking at my Green Trails map, I noticed the Cold Creek trail that connects with the Mount Catherine trail. By parking at the Cold Creek trailhead, it adds about 3.5 miles for a total of 6 round trip. The cold creek trail is very quiet. I saw no one on it, while I encountered several hikers and dogs on the Mount Catherine portion. Adding the Cold Creek segment makes this a very enjoyable hike with a decent distance, and some quiet solitude. I would highly recommend it.

Another advantage to the Cold Creek variant is the forest road gets worse at the switchback just past the cold creek trailhead. I was driving a Honda Civic and it had no trouble at all. The road does have some potholes but it is very manageable at slow speed. The Cold Creek trailhead can be found at the left side of the first switchback in the road. There is plenty of room to park, as you will probably be the only one there.

The views from Mount Catherine are amazing, making the hike definitely worthwhile.