Mount Rose — Sunday, Aug. 23, 2015

Olympic Peninsula > Hood Canal

We got to the trail head at about 9am. I had my 2 brothers with me, age 11 and 15. The 11 year old wanted to stop and rest about every 200 feet during the first 1/2 mile, but settled in to the pace/climb afterwards and didn't really slow us down too much. This hike is steep! Probably the most difficult hike I've done. There is no relief from the climb. It's a pretty constant 20% grade the whole way up the mountain. Mostly just switchbacks. In fact, you'll see the "highlight" of this hike in the first 100 feet of the trail head when you pass over 2 small waterfalls. There really is no payoff at the top. I'd only recommend this hike if you want to sweat/work hard/condition for a bigger/longer hike. Took us 4 hours from top to bottom.