Up Sulphur Mountain on a hot hot day. 10 miles RT. Trailhead 1600'. End of trail 6000'. Gain 4400' (more accurate than the WTA's 4200'). Average elevation gain per mile: 880'.
The last 15 miles of the Suiattle River Road is gravel featuring prize-winning potholes. The hiking trail was easy to follow all the way, though not easy to hike: narrow and of course steep. Total gain of 4400', but we finally left the forest and views appeared in only the last 200'.
Given the hot day and the uninspiring hike up thru the forest, it was one of the tougher hikes I've ever encountered for great mountain views – a sweaty grunt up an endless fir forest. I almost turned around after 3000' gain, but then Satchi and I stopped for food and water and I took a 20-minute nap, and then we carried on.
Only 3 major blowdowns, each of which has a little side trail around it. Some routefinding thru the snow near the top, but the snow is melting fast and there are solid footprints to follow. It was pretty much 360-degree views at the end, with Glacier Peak in your face. Scads of magnificent mountains all around, though I didn't have the time to work at identifying them. But was the payoff worth the price? Not sure, especially with the more pleasurable Green Mountain hike just next door. But Sulphur offers solitude; not so Green Mountain.
The end of the trail is actually not on top of Sulphur Mountain – it ends on a splendid open viewpoint, with Sulphur still a long way off with a lot of down and then up and no trail. We were alone on the trail except for two fellows who were plodding upward with huge packs, beginning a 7-day mountain traverse.
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