Went for a sunrise hike to Mount Catherine, so I thought I'd provide updates since the last trip reports.
First, the fall colors at Snoqualmie Pass might be near their peak right now. The vine maples, which line the forest road to the trailhead, are gorgeous. As another reporter said, there isn't that much fall color along the trail itself.
I also wanted to clarify previous reports that said that the road is completely unsuitable for low-clearance vehicles. It's actually fine, as long as you are comfortable driving your low-clearance vehicle on rough forest roads. If you have some experience, it's actually not that bad -- much better than the old Mount Pilchuck road, for example -- *except* for the washout a couple hundred feet before the trailhead. But even there, it looks like someone very kindly piled a bunch of rocks in the gully to make a "bridge" for your left tires. So if you pick your line right and go very slowly, you will be totally fine. I didn't bottom out once in my Prius, which is more than I can say for the old Pilchuck or Bandera roads.
I was very lucky to have amazing sunrise conditions. Not every sunrise hike looks like this!
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