Did my first ever solo backpacking overnight - and all during a heat wave! This was also my first time hiking the Park Butte trail so I had to do a lot of research and was so thankful for the info on the USFS website and the trail reports the days prior.
Bugs: One thing that previous trail reports did not emphasize were the bugs. I assume it was probably because of the warmer temperature in the past few days, which caused the flies to multiply. During the shaded, forested area I couldn't take a break at all without flies landing on me and trying to bite through my socks. There were only the brief moments of breeze that gave me a break from them. I also put on natural bug spray beforehand and it did not help. Luckily, there were no mosquitoes. Once we made it to the uncovered part of the trail, the bugs were a bit more manageable, but still not entirely gone.
Road: The gravel road up to Park Butte TH had many potholes, but they can be navigated around if you take it slow. I was able to make it with my low clearance Subaru Impreza just fine without bottoming out. It was also a good thing I went on a weekday when it was less busy. All the high clearance cars zipped past me with no problems.
I arrived to the parking lot at around 9:15am and it was mostly full. It was a later start than I would've liked to secure a spot at the lookout for the night, but most of the people I saw seemed to be either day hikers or those coming back from the previous night. Left the TH at around 9:45am and brought my tent just incase.
Trail: The trail had some muddy parts, but nothing unmanageable. Had no problems with the creek crossing. Be sure to read the signs at the junctions since the trail splits off a few times - I ran into someone who made a wrong turn and ended up doing the Scott Paul Trail before returning to do the Park Butte Trail (he missed the sunrise hike by a few hours). Once past the Railroad Grade junction, you'll start to feel very close to Koma Kulshan. There is still some snow cover that's been melting fast in the heat wave. Parts of the trail from here are covered in water/snow but I didn't have a problem with walking through them since I had waterproof boots and hiking poles.
The trail steepens again in the final mile and at that point there was no shade. I arrived to the top of the lookout at around 12:45pm. Only the bed was claimed when I got there, so I was able to secure a spot for the night on the other end. There was a huge group of friendly boomers (that's what they called themselves, one of them even had a patch on their bag that said "boomer"!) taking a break at the lookout. One of them gave me a tip on how to check out the tarns, which I did after lunch. There were a few more people who visited the lookout in the afternoon, but not too many. Only one other person joined the three of us for the sunset and sunrise the following morning.
7/28: Left the lookout the following morning at around 7:30am and it was already hot and sunny. The snow on the trail melted even more from the previous day. I'm sure all the snow will be gone from the trail in the next day or two. The bugs were less than then the previous day (could be because of the earlier start or because my skin was covered this time). Only ran into a trail runner on the way down and no one else until I was partway through the forested area. Crossed paths with a group that were on their way up to summit Koma Kulshan. Got back to the TH just before 10am to a very cool car (yay for shaded parking!).
Leave No Trace Note: You are required to pack out your waste. There are blue bags at the TH that you can grab for doing that. The receptacle at the lookout is out of blue bags, but I left one I didn't use there. I also saw eggshells on the ground over the lookout - all food waste needs to be packed out too!
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