I arrived at the trailhead around 7:15 Sunday morning with only two other cars parked. I had the trail (mostly) and lookouts (entirely) to myself. Unbelievable! Gentle pink rhodies lined the trek here and there. Seemed they were close to full bloom up there. It's not a barrage of color...still worth it. With no bathrooms at the trailhead, no worries, just 2000 ft up are two bathrooms right after the first lookout and then two bathrooms right before the second lookout. The path to the second lookout is weird because you're on the road. Toward the end of the hike my knees were ready for a change of pace from the constant downhill. It's a little rocky and rooty, but the big thing to be mindful of is the loose dry dirt. It can get slippery. Happy trekking!

We've been warming up for the hiking season, Herself and I, with near-daily 3 mile walks around the neighborhood, so 4 miles round-trip seemed like a great way to start the hiking season. But then there was the "I thought you KNEW what 2000 feet meant" conversation, and in the end we agreed it should have been about our fourth hike.

Nonetheless, the weather was perfect and skies were clear as we headed up the trail late in the morning, with five vehicles in the lot before us. The pink rhododendrons were out all through the forest, the trillium were finishing up, and there was something that looked like bunchberry (?) scattered about. It was a nice opportunity to practice rest-steps as our lungs protested that "this is not the neighborhood we usually traverse". Quite. But health and comfort trumps clocks when you're Of An Age, and we meandered a comfortable 2.5 hours up and took maybe half that on the way back down. I enjoyed the "halfway post", which appears accurate with regard to elevation gain, but I think it's beyond the 1-mile mark. That might explain why the second half seemed steeper. (So could the shape I'm in.)

The recent lack of rains added some slight haze to the views, but there is nothing like being above it all on a near-cloudless day. The vault toilets were clean and well-stocked, though one might question positioning them at the edge of a steep forest slope with the doors leading...out and hopefully not down! Mt. Walker is still a great, well-kept trail for the day when you need more vistas in your life.

Steep climb but beautiful views at the top.  Definitely go to both lookouts!!  Rhodies were not yet in bloom.

Today was hot and the park road was very dusty. I started the hike late at 11:20 and the trail was crowded, probably due to a combination of it being Mother's Day and a beautiful, although hot, day. The sky was clear and almost totally cloudless. The hike up is strenuous, as we all know or should know.  I summitted at the North view area in 1 hour and 45 minutes. The views were clear and spectacular. I walked over to the South viewpoint, which was a bit more crowded with folks who drove up. The view of Mt. Rainer was almost 100% haze-free. A little bird kept coming over and I surmise it is used to eating morsels from hikers.  Unfortunately, there was evidence of dropped tissue papers and someone had left 10 pieces of white bread on a post in the parking lot to feed the animals. This violates the leave no trace edict and should never be done. 

The hike down was at a leisurely pace and I was done in a little over an hour. The air temp at the summit was 83 degrees and the breeze was light.  A weekday hike up would likely have fewer hikers. The drive on the forest road is short, dusty and not unpleasant.

Beautiful post Mother’s Day picnic hike. My wife and daughter drove to the top and my son and I hiked the trail. We set a goal of 40min to complete the hike. He made it! I was 42.40…
Trail in very good condition. I was hoping to see the rhododendrons in bloom but there were none. I could not tell if I was late or early as some appeared to still have buds.
View at the top was stunning. Northerly view of Port Townsend. We stayed to watch the sunset over the Olympics.