I wholeheartedly agree with the people who say that this hike is harder than it would appear based on mileage/elevation. Maybe I was just extra tired from a ten mile long run the day before my hike, but this trail was hard. The inclines are steep and the trail is narrow which makes it difficult to use hiking poles. We went much slower than usual and needed a lot more rest stops during the climb.
The views, however, are worth it! Once you make it up to the ridge it's really beautiful in all directions. Mountains as far as you can see. The bushes have their fall colors on-lots of gorgeous orange and red. The trees are just starting to turn, they should get more colorful over the next week or two.
There are a number of trees down across the trail but they weren't hard to get over. (Or occasionally under.) As steep as the climb was I was worried about descending on the way down. But it wasn't as bad as I expected, my thighs were tired but not trashed.
We came to this hike from Seattle but we recommend using the "coming from Leavenworth" directions to get to the trailhead. Just stay on US 2 until Cole's Corner and then take WA 207, Little Wenatchee Rd, etc. You'll go a little bit further this way but you'll avoid 12.5 miles of narrow, rough forest service road. On the way to the trailhead we took the "from Seattle" route, on the way home we took the "from Leavenworth" route-it took the same amount of time (maybe even a little less) and it was much more comfortable driving and riding.
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