This is a hard hike. It’s 2 miles of straight uphill hiking— no flat parts— just straight up. Then you get to the top and you see ropes… ROPES plural. There are 6 ropes and a kind of scary rock scramble to get to the view point. I am afraid of heights and it is VERY hard not to look over the edge to see you’re very high up and scrambling up rocks.  However, I saw an 80+ year old woman come down from the ropes and nevertheless this encouraged me that I too could do the ropes and the scramble. I hyperventilated the entire rope section and for the entire rock scramble, BUT it was worth it. The views were spectacular. I do recommend getting to the trail early, it was busy when I was hiking back down. I got there around 830 and it wasn’t too crowded on an overcast Sunday.

I highly recommend jumping in crescent lake afterwards, it’s the perfect cool down! 

Left Issaquah around 9:00am and got to the trailhead around 11:57am. Encountered some traffic 20 minutes before arriving at the trailhead. There is road work being done and the highway is reduced to one-lane. I must’ve gotten very lucky because there was only one open parking spot after doing a second trip around the parking lot. Bathrooms are open at the lot and there is a water bottle refill station. 

If this is your first time here, the trail to mount storm king is across the highway. Walk through the trail that passes by the little cabin, goes through the tunnel, and past a large branching out tree. You’ll know what I mean when you’re there. The main trail feels like 1.5 miles of pure uphill with minimal flat sections. Trail is mostly loose dirt and gravel, so shoes with traction are recommended. I wore Chaco sandals (haha) and felt pretty comfortable, others were wearing trail runners, boots, and some sneakers. The rope section is totally doable! Go at your own pace and look for good footholds to step on. I saw some people wearing gloves, and others not. I also saw some people go on their bottoms and crawl down the rope sections. So, do whatever works for you! (Also gentle reminder, uphill hikers have the right of way) 

Happy trails and hiking!

Arriver at trailhead at 8:20am. Got one of the few parking spaces available near the ranger station. Used the restroom before easily walking to the trailhead. It was a great workout. A few mosquitos, but they didn’t bother me because I walked past all of them. Not much traffic going up. The ropes at the top is still working. The top is definitely better than the viewpoint on the maintained part of the trail. Got my photo op and headed down around 10. Lots of congestion with people going up, which isn’t good for those who want a more quiet hike. There is a lot of gravel on the trail and can be quite slippery if you don’t have enough traction on your shoes. 

Timing, weather conditions, parking. We did this hike on a very sunny day: we started at 230 pm on a Wednesday, and the parking lot was nearly full. There are clean well-stocked toilets at the trailhead. 

Starting the hike. The hike was, as mentioned in the several thousands of reports about it, extremely hilly starting about 1 mile in. We checked and found that in about 1 mile, we had covered about 400 feet of elevation and the rest of the elevation gain is in the remaining 1.2 miles. This second part was hilly and a great cardio workout but is doable. It helps to have good sturdy hiking boots (especially when coming back down). 

The section with the ropes. I'll now get to the most interesting part of the hike: the section with the ropes. Having started at 2:30, we reached this part at 4 pm. I had read way too many reports about this, especially the part that said the ropes were "sketchy", and it scared me quite a bit, as a result of which I sat down once I reached this part. But I saw about fifteen hikers make their way up or down the part with the ropes, while using the ropes quite heavily, and therefore, eventually decided to go up this part --- and I *STRONGLY RECOMMEND* everyone to do this as well. 

I thought the ropes were all sturdy and also necessary to guide me up to the top. There are five sections with ropes (with the transition between the first two sections being the trickiest). After the five rope-y parts, there was a scramble with a ton of footholds (but with a sheer drop on either side, so I strongly recommend just not looking either way if you, like me, are afraid of heights). The views from the top are absolutely magical (and totally worth the challenging hike). 

To come down the section with the ropes, I basically rappelled (and that's what I saw most other hikers also doing). The rest of the stuff is basically your standard PNW hiking. We also saw a garter snake near the top, which is something to look out for (they aren't poisonous but I did get a bit startled on seeing it a couple of feet away from me). 

Miscellaneous. There were tons of wildflowers all abloom and plenty of spots for great photo ops (my hiking partner promised they would use the photos I took of them for their website --- we shall see if that happens). 

The falls were fun and easy to do after this one. Highly recommended as well!

Today was attempt one, at what will now end up a multi attempt hike. Made it to the ropes, but didn't feel confident ascending solo with the first rope being stretchy. 

Decided to do this hike on a Monday thinking it would be less busy, I was wrong. Arrived at the parking lot just before 9am and it was relatively empty. By the time I returned at 1:30 pm it was packed and people were parking along the road, even though the boat lot had plenty of room. 

The hike itself is steep, slippery with loose rock, and has several places where people have cut the switchbacks. Please do not do this, it erodes the trail. The lower lookout area, past the "End of maintained trail" sign still offers gorgeous views; but to obtain the upper lookout I'm going to have to return with a spotter.