Kelly Butte proved to be a short, sweet and moderately steep hike. The 3/4 mile walk to the trailhead from the parking area is shaded, but after that it's 90% sun, so bring lots of water! The nice thing about the lack of shade is that you have constant mountain views, though it was still too hazy/smokey to see Rainer. I started at 8:30 and only saw 3 other groups and they were all going the opposite direction of me so I had the lookout to myself for over an hour! The views are amazing and I love that you can go inside and write in the log too.
As far as getting there, the WTA directions are on point. It took me about 25 minutes to get to the parking lot from 410, it's almost all loose gravel and occasional potholes but I was happy to have my SUV. I'm sure sedans could make it without incident, though everyone in the parking lot had SUVs so I can't speak much to that.
Happy hiking!
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