Mt Walker is a relatively short hike, but my legs sure feel it 3 days later!  It's a constant up hill with really no break.  Great training trail and beautiful pay off view at the top. The top has a couple of places to sit and a nice viewing area.  No bathrooms at trailhead.  Trail was in great condition.  No snow except for a tiny little bit at the very tippy top.  

It was a sunny, chilly New Year's Eve day, and lots of hikers were on the trail. There must have been 20 cars parked at the gate when we started at 10:30 a.m.  We hiked up the trail (steep but in good shape) to the north viewpoint, where we had a good view of Mt. Constance, Mt. Baker, and lots of other peaks. Then we walked the road to the south viewpoint, where we had a view of Hood Canal, Seattle, and Mt. Rainier. We returned via the road, which is closed to cars in winter. Walking the road is longer than taking the trail, but it's gentler, and was a pleasant walk.  Hitting both viewpoints and returning via the road made the hike a total of 8 miles.

There were more than a few happy hikers on the trail this Christmas Day; apparently this is quite a popular spot even on a holiday. There are two blowdowns across the trail -- no problem to cross, although small children may need help. It was snowing/sleeting at the summit (no views today) and there was a light layer of crunchy snow. (A highly localized white Christmas!) All the cleared areas at the summit had a little snow on the ground, but we never needed to break out the microspikes. Someday we'll return to take in the views, which I hear are amazing on a clear day.

Gate is closed for winter so we parked outside the gate. Short hike up to the trailhead. There was a WTA work crew of 20-25 doing yearly maintenance on the trail so the trail is in great condition. No snow on the trail or summit. North viewpoint had a beautiful clear view. South viewpoint was mainly fog. We didn’t see or hear many birds. Took the trail up and back down.