We needed a hike relatively close to home today, so returned to our favorite early-season, near-home, go-to for conditioning: the Olallie Trail. Depending on snow levels and personal preference, one could hike over nine miles on this trail, at least, and summit Mt.Washington while they're at it. Edelman and I have never done either, but we like the option. Today we hiked about 3.5 miles (just short of the second viewpoint) stopping for lunch in a small sunny area along the ridge. We would have gone to one of the viewpoints beyond this, but snow started at about 2700 feet and we just didn't have the time today.The snow is melting and only about two inches deep where we went, but it is slushy and slippery. Not sure how deep it is at, say, viewpoint #5, which is 5.5 miles up the Olallie and not too far from the cut off trail to Mt. Washington . . . I'd bring spikes if you're thinking about tackling it.

We parked at the Cedar Falls lot at about 9:20 and followed the Palouse to Cascades trail for 2 miles till picking up the Olallie Trail (which is obviously marked with a kiosk). The Olallie is mostly used as a mountain bike trail, but that's fine by us. The trail is well-maintained by the bike folks. We encountered about 30 or so bikes today, all of the riders friendly. You will want to be aware of the fact that it is a multi-use trail and be sure to step well aside when a biker comes blasting down the trail. If you're the earphones-with-music-blasting type, I wouldn't hike here! Luckily, we're the codgers-listening- to-birdsong type. Nice views out across Sno Valley today (from Viewpoint #1). Trail is in excellent condition all the way up to the "first crest." As I said, snow starts not too long after, and we encountered a couple of prickly blowdowns (whole trees with branches across the trail, small but minorly gnarly--see attached pic). We hiked 11.3 RT, 4.25 hrs. hiking. Wildflowers seen today were salmonberry blooms and some sort of buttercup. One final note: there was a marathon and ultra marathon event happening today along the PTC--or part of it. We spoke briefly with a guy in his 20's (looked like) who was on his 38th mile. We saw other runners, as well, a whole spectrum of folks. So nice to see people outside, embracing the fact of being alive, doing something positive, with others, amidst all the tribulation happening in our world right now.

Began my Five Trail loop hike around Cedar Butte from the Iron Horse Trail State Park near Rattlesnake Lake out of North Bend. The last time I did the loop was 2-1/2 years ago going clockwise. This time I did it ccw. Hiked up the Palouse To Cascade Trail on the former Milwaukee Road (CMSP&P) railroad grade for the 1 mile (where the last train came through in 1980) and then headed up, sometimes steep Cedar Butte Trail. Part of the trail is on old logging railroad grades from the days of the North Bend Timber Co. when they logged the area from 1906 to 1923. At the wye I went right and did the Boxley Blowout Loop to get to Saddle Junction. At the junction I met one young woman hiker and her two dogs coming down from the summit. This is where I took the Southside Trail (there is a sign on a tree) which has some ups and downs before getting to two small ponds. Before getting to the ponds the trail goes down a very steep hillside, so trekking poles are handy for this section of the Southside Trail. Past the ponds the trail turns left as it snakes through the conifer forest. At the top of a small ridge I made a sharp right turn onto the West Ridge Trail. The old West Ridge Trail was the original trail to get to the summit of Mt. Washington before the present route from Exit 38 off I-90 was established. Half way up the West Ridge Trail to meet the Olallie Trail I crossed another old NBTC logging railroad grade. 

At the unsigned junction with the newer Olallie Trail is a large rock cairn next to a fir tree. The Olallie Trail makes a big left turn by this junction in a rock area. The Olallie Trail was opened on July 19, 2017 and begins 2 miles up the PTC trail from the trailhead where I started my hike. This trail goes up the west ridge of Mt. WA over to Change Creek and cost $1.16 million to build by WA State Parks with help from the Evergreen Mtn. Bike Alliance. It is open to hikers, mtn. bikers and horses. Never saw any horseshoe prints. I hiked up the Olallie Trail about 2 miles to a view point for lunch. This trail makes some big switchbacks as it gains elevation. You can still hike part of the old West Ridge Trail if you would like a steeper hike. At the viewpoint I could see northwest across the Snoqualmie Valley to Si and Little Si. On a clearer day you could see more peaks to the north. I used the log at the viewpoint for a lunch time bench. While eating a group of young mtn. bikers showed up who were riding e-bikes. The Olallie Trail is one of the trails open to e-bikes.

After lunch I headed back on the Olallie Trail all the way down to the PTC Trail. Part way down I met a 68 year old senior mtn. biker going up the trail (no e-bike) and we had a nice chat about the outdoors. Further down was a younger mtn. biker with an old cross bike taking a break, so chatted with him too. Once back down to the PTC trail I hiked the 2 miles back to the parking lot in 43 minutes, not too bad for 73 year old legs. Made for a nice loop hike around Cedar Butte with no crowds. There were a few downed trees on the Boxley Blowout Loop. Someone had been on the Southside, and West Ridge Trails and had cut out many blown down trees across the trail. State Parks is supposed to be maintaining the Cedar Butte/Boxley Blowout Trail. I did not see any other hikers on my trip except for the woman at Saddle Junction on the Cedar Butte Trail. My hike was about 10 miles. George

My goal was to start at Olallie State Park, then take the Change Creek Trail to Olallie Trail and up to  Change Peak. I ended up not bothering to summit (it was pretty socked in and I've been up there before, so it wasn't worth the extra distance and gain) also decided to go down via the Great Wall/Mount Washington Trails and just walk on Iron Horse back to where I parked, because this route is easier to navigate and the snow conditions between Change Creek and Olallie were kind of sketchy/annoying. I'm attaching a screen cap from Gaia- my route is the green loop. In total, it was around 9 miles and 2,600 ft. 

Overall, for most people wanting to summit Change Peak, I would recommend just coming from the Mount Washington area. It's much easier and more straight forward, and there's no reason in particular to go the way I did unless you're a solitude seeker who likes exploring old/unmaintained/unofficial trails... Obviously I enjoy doing this... for some reason. lol.

From the parking area at Olallie State Park, you cross SE Homestead Valley road, go under the Hall Creek Trestle and up to Iron Horse. Go left on Iron Horse until you reach the Change Creek Trail. This trail is behind a fence and very hard to spot unless you have a GPS map or know what to look for. I've been here before, though, so this time it stood out to me. Change Creek Trail is steep but in good condition. There are a couple decent viewpoints at Ollalie Knob and Hall Point, but I passed these by this time. It was ultra cloudy, anyway. 

Snow started around 2,800 ft, where Change Creek Trail branches either towards Machu Picchu or Change Peak. I stayed right this time. From here up to Olallie Trail, navigation was kind of a pain. Thankfully there were some previous tracks to follow, otherwise with the brush and the snow, it would have taken even longer to find my way... The snow was my least favorite to navigate. Mostly firm, but also with weak areas where you suddenly punch through into potential obstacles. Too soft for spikes to help, too overgrown to navigate with snowshoes.. I just booted up the entire way with no traction, kicking steps where needed. It was sketchy enough that I decided to just do some extra distance to avoid coming back down this way. 

Once coming out at Olallie Trail, things were more straight forward. The snow was a bit deeper and softer up here, and I was post-holing a bit more. I considered putting on snowshoes but there were intermittent bare patches, especially around the edge of the trail, and I didn't want to take them on and off. Plus, the snow was MOSTLY holding my weight. I'm still on the fence about whether I should have just put on snowshoes to go a bit faster on this section. 

Once I got onto the Great Wall Trail, it was fairly smooth sailing. The snow was all gone by the time I reached the Mount Washington trail, and I made better time here. I ended up walking about a mile on Iron Horse, but that went quite fast since it was flat. On Iron Horse I saw a speck of a Mountain Goat on a cliff face in the distance! Pretty cool!

A few of us and a dog made a loop using the P2C trail, Cedar Butte trail, Southside Trail and the lower part of the Olallie SP Trail. Stats were 10.2 miles and 1040 gain. We arrived at the Cedar Falls TH at 7:30 and had our choice of parking spots. Most of the trails were in great shape. Not much for views at the Boxley Blowout. At Cedar Butte you can peek through trees to the summits across I-90. Quite a few still had snow. I picked some trail conditions because the Southside Trail connecting Cedar Butte to the Olallie trail is a designated primitive trail. At the intersection with the sign it was so overgrown we could hardly see it. The trail was vague in most places. Lots of down branches and trees, including on two severely steep sections that went straight down then straight up as we went east. The footing was tricky on the bare dirt spots. But most of it had loose branches down on it to add to the challenge. There were spots where fallen trees caused deep holes in the ground full of down brush. Hard to find the ground. We kept seeing places where someone had recently cut brush. Our progress corresponded with the GPS route I had. We got to the Olallie trail okay. It was an adventure that pushed our comfort zone. Might not be for everybody. The Olallie SP trail is just the opposite. A very well constructed mountain bike trail! We met several cyclists and runners. Sharing the trail went really well and was friendly. Our dog is still a bit nervous around bikes especially if they arrive suddenly. But he was better by the end of the hike. We lunched at Ragnar. You might bring your own seat. The creosote timber pile is really stinky. The walk back on the P2C trail was surprisingly not busy for a nice spring Sunday. We got back about 1:30 and the parking was packed!

Pretty sure this is the only I90 hike you can roll up to mid morning and still have a choice of trail head parking spots on a weekend blue bird day, hence its place at the top of our list.  We drove in past road sides full to the brim (and beyond) of cars from hikers headed to Rattlesnake Ledge.  But a hundred yards (at the end of the road) past the entrance to Rattlesnake Lake you access the parking for the west end of the Cascades-Palouse (iron horse) trail.  After following the main trail out past the pit potties (ignore left and right side trails) you access the iron horse-trail proper with a sign showing impressive mileages for eastern destinations.  I'm not a fan of road/rail trails but there is enough here to make the first two miles not so bad.  Nice views through the trees to the ponds, crossing Boxley Creek and through some interesting cuts.  After a quick two miles the entrance to Olallie Trail is announced by a nice kiosk.  As this mountain bike trail (but also open to hikers) is quite new it's not on my map but you can snap a picture at the kiosk with all the important info, do that as this trail goes along way.  Once you turn and start the gentle climb the forest soon wraps you in a sense of peace.  The trail is national park caliber and the views through the forest quite lovely, much better than most second growth.

We soon started to meet cyclists headed down so needed to keep our heads up, but were always able to step to the side for the dozen or so that came past.  I have to say they were all very nice and all ages too and none riding down super fast.  After a while you forget where you are and it's 2.5 miles (from the trail kiosk) to the first viewpoint so hiking on the clock is useful.  Within a half mile or so of the first view point the previously clean trail became more messy and there are a few blowdowns to deal with.  Not more than six on this section all easily stepped over, the last one a more awkward scoot under.  You do start to wonder if you missed the first viewpoint, but no it's an obvious one with large boulders to mark the edge of the ridge.  We layered up as it was breezy and had lunch, sharing the spot with a couple of bikers who had braved the trail hazards.  The view framed by trees is out across the valley to little Mount Si and makes a good turn around point.

Returning the way we came we thankfully had no one riding down behind us, and the couple of bikers we passed headed up (slowly) were no issue at all.  The walk down gave lots of opportunity to enjoy the warm sun shining through the trees and marvel at the impressive storm damage.  This really is a nice stretch of forest walking and we were the only hikers, amazing considering the hordes headed up to Rattlesnake Ledge.

Once back at the iron horse trail it was a very foot-weary walk on the hard gravel bed back to the car for a total millage around nine.  With four miles of compulsory road walking I'm not sure I'd choose this hike again but it was a good shoulder season option for a sunny day.  As they clear the Olallie trail to points higher the biker traffic will increase and sharing will become unpleasant, so now is a good time to explore.