4 miles of switchbacks all the way. We slept at the upper trailhead night before, no other cars. Parking lot close to full by 7:30am. Beautiful hike, 100% worth all efforts for views on a clear day!

This hike kicked my butt!! Really lived up to the "hard" rating with near-constant switchbacks for 4 miles up. 

Decided to hike this to escape the Seattle heat- the weather report said it was only 75F on the mountain, but it felt a lot hotter in the sun on the exposed portion of the hike. That said, wildflowers were plentiful, views were epic, and there was a nice cool breeze at the summit! Rhododendrons are past peak, but might still hang around a little longer.

Bugs weren't too bad- I wore a hat, long-sleeve UPF clothing, and bug spray. There were a lot of bugs flying around, but they didn't land on me so I guess that worked! Maybe the light breeze and heat of the day kept them at bay as well.

Arrived at 11:30am to an almost-full upper trailhead parking lot. The road in was paved for the majority, only a couple small stretches of gravel & potholes. Nothing my SUV couldn't handle. It took me 5 hours total- 3 up, 2 down, being that it was so hot and I had to stop for a lot of water breaks. Left at 5:30pm to a mostly empty parking lot

If you're coming from Seattle: I learned the hard way that the Hood Canal bridge closes at 6:15pm for an hour to allow boats through. Make sure to time your exit if you're catching a ferry on the other side! Port Gamble is a nice little spot to visit while waiting for the next ferry...

To the hikers I gave a ride back to your Toyota Tacoma, you left your trekking poles in my car. Find me on Facebook and we will figure out how to get them back to you. Curt Dow

We started at the Marmot Pass trailhead and enjoyed the slowly graded and shaded trail along the river, up to Camp Mystery. Load up with water here, the ridge and pass are dry with the only snow available on Boulder Ridge. The climb up to Buckhorn ridge was slow and steady with all the water and overnight packs, but we found a level campsite on the ridge. It was exposed, hot and buggy. We built a small windbreak, but it didn't help much, as the ridge got very windy at sunset and didn't let up by the time we packed up at 8 the next morning. The fireworks were cool to see from so far away throughout the Sound and south to Tacoma.

Tubal Cain Trail, again was hot and exposed, but a great gradual trail down. At Buckhorn lake we filled up again, but you didn't need much as Copper Creek is flowing well right now. Check out the mine!

We had lunch and napped at the Tubal Cain trailhead next to the river and decided to take the trail up to Silver Lake instead of having another hot and windy day on Townsend via Little Quilcene Trail. There are no campsites along the Silver Lake way Trail, but plenty of water. We camped just shy of Silver Lake and enjoyed no wind but plenty of bugs!

Our third and final day, we hoofed it up the pass to Mount Townsend trail and detoured to Welch peaks. I recommend a helmet and being VERY comfortable with scrambling around no fall zones. The rest of the trail down to Townsend Trailhead was uneventful.

We saw so many people heading uphill around 2pm with very little water and dogs. The only source of water is the first creek barely 1 mile in and then a pond at Camp Windy that is the last source of water. 

We were lucky enough to get a ride back to Marmot Pass trailhead, and apparently left our hiking poles in their car... :)

Now is a great time to go! Rhododendrons lead to wildflowers lead to wonderful 360 degree views!