Had a great beautiful day hike to the fire lookout and back. The weather was amazing, and we saw a good number of people on trail, mostly groups summiting Mt Baker, but also some day hikers like us, and people with dogs and kids ages 7ish-14ish.
The trail was easy going (or, as easy as 2,200 feet of elevation gets), with very well maintained trails, and a gradual incline that never felt sketchy. Two creek crossings - the first required some leapfrogging from stone to stone (or being ok with wet shoes), and the other had a newly-built bridge which was very helpful. Be mindful of the water level - what you see in the morning will increase by afternoon as more snow melts off!
At the last mile and a half, the terrain changed to be totally snow-covered. The snow is mushy and slippery because it's actively melting, and I don't think spikes would have helped, but poles might have. It was a slog to go up, but the way down was pretty easy (you can slide down on your butt if you are so inclined). I think a few more weeks of weather like this and the snow should be gone. One piece of advice here is to bring sunglasses - the glare off the white snow in the midday sun was a lot, and gave me a bit of a headache by the end of it.
Once you reach the lookout, the views are amazing, and we spent a while having lunch and hanging out. All in all, a great hike. It's fairly physically intensive, but the reward is 10000% worth it!
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