Kelly Butte — Friday, Jun. 15, 2018

I did this hike hoping to see a beautiful sunset. I was not disappointed. It was mostly cloudy so Mount Rainier was covered. However there were some cloud breakage with some amazing colors.

Time: 1.5 hours up ( I'm slow), 1 hour down

Drive: Follow the WTA directions. Google map tried to take us the wrong way. Screenshot the directions as you will not get any service out there. The road is snow free, however, it is very rough! The gravel road has many huge pot holes! There are some areas where the road is very narrow (almost a one lane) so I could image it being difficult with the opposite traffic coming towards you. Our suburban made it fine.

Parking: There is an unnamed Trailhead sign at the parking area. The parking could probably hold 10-15 cars. I didn't see any outhouse.

Trail: From the parking lot, you walk about 1/2 to the Kelly Butte sign. This part is pretty flat. The sign is clearly marked. I am unsure if the trail starts at the parking lot or at the actual sign. The trail is on your right, immediately going uphill. Most of the elevation is at the beginning. This part is pretty narrow with lots of loose rocks. Becareful coming down, I slipped a few times. The rest has a mild incline through the woods. The firelookout is not far from there.

People: Since we started pretty late (at 6:30pm) there was only another couple going up around the same time. However more people started to show to catch the sunset. There were probably about 10 other people there.

View: Beautiful views of the valleys throughout the hike. The 360 view from the lookout was amazing! Sad we didn't get to see Mount Rainier due to the clouds but the sunrays and colors were beautiful! The Beargrass are starting to come in bloom! I would wait a couple of more weeks to see the wild flowers in bloom.

Bugs: There were a few bugs here and there. I didn't get any bug bites (They usually love me).

Firelookout: I was told it was first come first service. There are two cots and one wooden bedframe.

Water: No water source on the trail.

Tip: It gets really windy up top. Dress accordingly!