Parking lot practically empty at 9:00AM. Bathroom well stocked. I saw no one on this hike for four hours - between leaving the car and about halfway back. This is a remarkable thing for a trail so close to Seattle. The tree cover on this hike is almost uninterrupted, right to the top, and welcome on a hot day. Another good thing - probably the best thing about the trip - is the relative solitude. The things I didn't like included the trail condition (enough loose rocks to force me to watch every footstep), the scrubby, uninteresting forest, and the sorry lack of vistas; except for a view of Rainier and Chester Morse lake, a hundred yards from the top, and a view north to Mt. Si from the tree-shrouded "summit," there was little to see.
Mt. Washington might be a reasonable destination for a sunny weekend, when all of the other local destination are likely to be overrun, but otherwise I'll be doing Bandera, or Mailbox, or Teneriffe, or Granite, or even Mt. Si, before I do this one again.
Comments