Arrived at Ridley Creek Trailhead at 8:00 am. We were the only car there, which I suspected would be the case due to previous reports of the bridge being out. A short 1/3 mile takes you down to the river, where indeed! the bridge is out. In the morning hours, we were able to ford the river upstream from the old bridge crossing where it's a bit wider. 

Ridley Creek Trail is overgrown in a few places but overall in fantastic shape. Ripe blueberries were plentiful once we reached treeline. We connected to Bell Pass Trail at Mazama Camp and continued on to Park Butte Lookout. 

The river crossing was higher in the afternoon with the heat of the day and we used a log to cross roughly ~1/4 mile upstream from the old bridge crossing. It would be possible to use this log and not get your feet wet if you have a higher tolerance for bushwhacking than I. 

I started this hike in the early afternoon and was soon sweltering. But once I climbed up into the basin and the landscape opened up, it was lovely. The lookout was perched so perfectly - I’d love to stay there overnight at some point.

The forest roads were great up until the last 2 miles. Then there were potholes everywhere. Most cars should be OK, just very slow.
Arrived at 0843. Plenty of open parking spaces. Strangely, the lot never really filled up this time. That might have been related to the difficult crossing at Rocky Creek.
There used to be a (mostly) dry creek bed before you get to the main part of Rocky Creek where the temporary bridge is. This time, there was a lot of water flowing very fast, and crossing was a challenge. Some nice person added a log to an existing log jam near the old concrete bridge abutments. That stabilized it enough to get across with dry feet. Still, not for the faint-of-heart or balance-challenged. Other people used water shoes and poles.
As previously reported, the ripe huckleberries are abundant along the trail, especially near the start. The wildflowers are past peak, but still lovely in many places. Bugs were not a problem.

The road is great with exception to the last 2 miles, there are some potholes there but nothing that bad with some caution. The water flow and levels at stream crossings are way higher than normal probably due to the heat causing glacial melt making it more like a small river. Had I known it was going to be so high I would have brought a pair of shoes to do the crossing in so I wouldn’t have to hike with wet shoes. The bridge at the first stream crossing is gone and the 2nd crossing has a bridge which helps but it’s still challenging to not get your feet wet. The flow on the way back had obviously increased and I ended up just walking through the water. This might make it difficult if you are hiking with a dog.

Kulshan is visible within 1 mile of the trailhead and gets closer and closer as you near the lookout. The trail is very exposed so be sure to bring plenty of water! No bugs. I saw a note that the lookout will be under maintenance for those that are interested in trying to camp thetr.

Gorgeous hike with amazing views!