Mount Catherine — Thursday, Jul. 30, 2020

Great hike with a nice pay off after a steep 1.5 miles. Low crowds. Unfortunately, I will not be coming back due to the terrible condition of the road (see below).

I completed this hike last week. We only passed a handful of other people on a weekday afternoon and had the summit all to ourselves.

This hike has an excellent reward to effort ratio and the summit offers 360 degree views including a nice view of Ranier on a clear day. There is a short scramble at the summit with cables that can be used.

The road to get to the trailhead was extremely terrible. Four miles of large and frequent potholes plus patches of jagged rocks about 1.5 miles from the trailhead. I damaged my all wheel drive Honda CRV crossing over the rocks. This should really only be attempted by very high clearance and/or off road capable vehicles and is not passable at all with a sedan. Many people parked 1.5 miles before the trailhead which I also should have done in retrospect.