Mount Townsend — Monday, Jul. 31, 2017

Hiked up to the summit of Mt Townsend yesterday via the Dirty Faced Ridge trail (Little Quilcene #835 - next to Tubal Cain TH). This is a steep hike with 2,000' in elevation gain in just the first two miles. Sections of it are at 30-40% incline grade. Your legs will hate you. I would strongly recommend hiking poles, especially for the descent. While the trail is in excellent condition, it is so dry that it can be slippery in sections. This is also an all-but-completely dry trail so in this warmer summer months, definitely bring lots of water. Once you get thru the first two miles, the steepness eases off a bit but it is still a steady climb. The bugs weren't too bad while you were moving. You stop though and there were tons of flies making themselves a nuisance.

At the summit, I was fortunate to see Rainier, Adams, St Helens, Baker, the San Juans...all of it. The last time I was there, most of the view was obscured by clouds. All in all, a gorgeous day in the Olympics.