Mount Storm King — Saturday, Feb. 27, 2021

Finally made it out to this bucket list hike!

In short: beautiful woods & lake views, microspikes were not needed, ropes intact, trail sketchy (steep w loose rock)/narrow in places but totally doable with caution, busy on mid-day Saturday

Trail Conditions: The trail really is essentially snow free. There were a couple rare patches that didn't warrant putting on microspikes. Just beyond the "end of maintained trail" sign begins the rope section. My husband and I decided to break before the ropes on some rocks to eat lunch. While we were sitting there, we heard what sounded like a humungous rock slide coming down from the summit. We couldn't see it through the trees, but man it was not a good sound. We went on up anyways, but with increased caution. 

In my opinion, the sketchiest part of the trail is the first rope section. The trail is very steep here with loose rocks and appears pretty exposed. It wasn't actually difficult going up/down, especially with the help of the rope. But it did take some caution and careful footing. Just know that one's the worst one. The other ropes aren't really even necessary but are nice to hold on to just in case.

The final scramble to the summit is not difficult in terms of being technical, but it is narrow. If you're alone this won't be a problem but with other people on the summit going back and forth around us, it was kinda nerve-wracking. We couldn't see how many people were up there until we had already scrambled most of the way up or we would have waited. Mid-day on a Saturday, the summit was packed. There was a line of people waiting to get their picture at the photo spot like a line for Santa. Some people were sitting and eating on the narrow rocks leaving little room for others to bypass them. People were feeding the gray jays, so while you're trying to coordinate other hikers bypassing you, you also have to deal with gray jays swooping at you. It was a bit like a circus up there! We were so glad to have challenged ourselves and made it to this amazing spot. But I do bring this up because I felt that it was the traffic at the top that made the summit treacherous, and it is probably safer not to go at prime time like we did. We pretty quickly descended and were able to relax on the rocks at the bottom of the rope section where there is more space and still a lovely view. Between the people and the gray jays, I would recommend planning to eat lunch on the lower rocks rather than the summit.

Please be careful up there, take your time, and be courteous of other hikers! Expect to need to wait while others are using the ropes or scrambling up/ down the final summit block; please don't try to pass them if it's not a good spot or be impatient. Even better, I'd suggest going really early mid-week when you won't have to deal with crowds.

That being said, it sure is lovely up there this time of year with the snow line dusting the mountains flanking Lake Crescent. This is such a special place :)