Went on a Thursday. Saw about 8 parties, > 20 people total. Our progress was slowed by picking huckleberries which given their size, one could not resist. Fording the river in the afternoon (around 2pm) was somewhat challenging as river level had risen. Driving back down the forest road was akin to a rodeo ride.

I arrived at the trailhead at 10:30 and found plenty of parking.  I was actually surprised to find so many hikers on a late fall week day.  

I hit the trail at 10:45 am.  The Rocky Creek crossing was pretty easy at 11:00am, but was raging later in the day.  More on that below.

I reached the lookout at 1:00pm.  It took 2 1/4 hours of steady hiking....with brief stops for pictures and water.  It was an absolutely beautiful day.  The blueberries were abundant and delicious.  The weather was perfect in the high 60's.  Didn't see any bears, but heard there were 4 bears near the lookout, the day before.

When reaching Rocky Creek again at about 3:30pm, the water was flowing at a much higher level. The logs I used to cross in the morning, had been washed away.  I found a smaller tree further upstream to use to ford the creek.  It was exciting to say the least.  

This is now one of my top ten hikes in the North Cascades.  I loved it. 

We made it to the trailhead from Tacoma in about 3 hours, arriving around 10:15am with a quick stop in Sedro Wooley for coffee. The gravel portion of the road is a little bumpy, but any car can handle it if you take it slowly. 

The trail starts off with a meander through a lovely meadow; Mt Baker just peeking through the trees. The rocky creek crossing has two parts, the first we navigated by skirting upstream a little way until there was a branch crossing the widest part, and rock hopped the rest. The 2nd section has a rickity metal bridge that makes the widest crossing very simple. Pink flagging marks the trail.

Then you head up through some switchbacks under forest canopy until you arrive at another lovely meadow FULL of ripe blueberries YUM! The mountain teased us in and out of clouds most of the day, but we caught glimpses of views in all directions as we hiked up. After a meadow of tarns, you reach a trail junction. There were several campsites to the right, however the lookout is left at the junction. Then you pass the lovely pothole lakes before the final climb to the lookout, which was crammed with folks on a Sunday. 

We opted to take lunch a little below the lookout, and found a campsite below. We had in-your-face mountain views in the morning, and I recommend scouting campsites on your way up if you do want to spend the night, as the tower is quite small and also quite popular. Even if you did snag a spot, you'd be dealing with visitors nonstop. Our spot gave plenty of options for photographs, ripe berries, a water source, and complete solitude. Woke up to frost on the tent!

Great way to wrap up backpacking season!

As noted in previous reports, it's just the last mile or so of road that's a little worse for wear.  That said, it's more the woop woop type of potholes than bang bang type.  Just pay attention and watch the tire tracks of people who went before and all vehicles should be fine.

I arrived at the trailhead after 9:30 and found it about 50% full - ate a quick breakfast and then got moving by 10:00.  The water crossings were easy - found enough exposed rocks on the first to step from stone to stone without getting wet at all.  The trail is in great shape, especially the first portion where recent work has been completed.  The sun started breaking out right about the time that Kulshan came into view - lots of photo opportunities!

The final ascent toward the look out brought more clouds, but still much to look at including many, many ripe blueberries.  Ate a sandwich at the top and took a timelapse of the clouds scooting up valleys and over ridges below me.  The view down was mostly obscured, but I won't complain - it was a great hike and experience.

On the way back, the water level had increased significantly.  I watched several people coming across pick their way across the stream, then decided to just wade through, knowing that I had a short walk back to the parking lot.  

I'm a middle aged guy with a 40-hour office job, not in the best shape, but made it to the top in 2.5 hours without issue.  The trip down had fewer rest stops and took about 30 minutes less.  Got back to the parking lot by 3:15 and found it closer to full, but still some available parking spaces that weren't random ditches or ravines.  

Arrived at the TH around 10:15am on a Wednesday. Half of the lot was full, but there was still plenty of parking available. The road doesn’t get rough until the last 2 miles. There are some small exposed rocks and potholes, but any car can make it as long as you take it slow. I took a Toyota Corolla up and it did just fine. There’s no cash envelope parking at the TH. You either need to have the NW Forest pass OR pay ahead of time. We have a pass, but others were struggling to pay because there’s only a QR code to download an app, but there’s zero service out there to download anything.

The majority of the trail is in good shape and you will hike a variety of terrain (ie. Loose gravel/pebbles, dirt, rocky bits of trail). The thing you need to be prepared for is the water crossing. At 10:45, we got report from earlier hikers coming down that the water was already much higher than when they passed in the morning. There’s a path in the water with several logs strewn together that we saw most people take, but there is rebar wire sticking out of the logs in multiple areas… with how fast the current was, we opted to stay away from the logs and cross a little further up. The water came up to just below my knees (I’m 5’2). I HIGHLY recommend bringing water shoes that strap securely onto your feet AND hiking poles to cross the water. On the way back at 4:30pm, the current was much stronger and the water higher. The log path we saw many people take earlier in the day was mostly covered by water. We went south of the logs and were able to find an area to skip-jump across on rocks, but again we needed water shoes and hiking poles to help. 

There’s a second water crossing that has a metal bridge you cross. In the morning around 10:45am, the water level was below the bridge. At 4:30pm, the water was splashing up onto the bridge occasionally but was totally safe to cross. 

The trail is well-marked throughout the hike. At the water crossings, follow the small pink flags to the trail. 

The hike was amazing, turning out to be one of my favorites. Don’t let the water crossing scare you, but also know your limits. 

TLDR

-Rough road last 2mi, but any car can make it 

-Bring water shoes and hiking poles for water crossing - BOTH are necessary. 

-Have NW pass or pay ahead, no paying available at TH 

-Trail is well-marked and marked by small pink flags at the water crossings

Happy Hiking!