Since the wife took a day off and it was a sunny day (an advantage we've lacked lately), we decided to head up to the Mountain Loop highway. About 7 miles Past the Verlot Ranger Station take a right just before the Red Bridge. Follow the road right at a junction at about 1.5 miles and follow the main road to its end at about 5.7 miles. This trail is good in spots but contains several rooty, muddy areas. It goes up and down and up to Cutthroat Lakes which make a fine destination. There are a lot of campsites interspersed amongst the lakes. The meadows are still clothed in their splendid fall mantles, there were specks of snow here and there. We continued up a winding trail that went in the general direction of Bald Mountain, but seemed to be meandering away from it when we cut accross a meadow near the ridgeline to meet a trail apparently built by the boy scouts in 1972 (according to an aging sign). The trail cut around the south side of Bald Mountain to reveal a stunning view. Spada Reservoir rippled below and Rainier towered above all comers. The trail continued to climb and switchback towards the summit. Moving towards a southwest corner, the Seattle skyline and the Olympics came into view. The summit 'trail' is actually a scramble that Quincy and I ascended to within about 300 hundred feet of the top. It being close to our turn around time, (and being somewhat chicken), we decided that we'd attack the summit another day. The trip down from Cutthroat Lakes in the mud can be tricky. There are several slick, muddy spots that require care. All in all, this is a great hike and definitely worth the trip to the south side of Bald Mountain.

Snowshoed up the Mallardy Ridge hike, as described in the snowshoe hike book, on Sunday. Serious snow is found at about the 2000' level so a 4-wheel drive truck can make it up the road for two and a half miles. We walked in our boots for another mile and then put on the snowshoes. We walked all the way to the end of the road and started up the Walt Bailey trail. We followed the trail for about a mile until we lost it in a very pretty meadow. It was a good turning around point, being probably about 4 miles from the car.

Two of us hiked to Cutthroat Lakes and Bald Mountain summit. The access road is in good shape. We found several feet of snow on the trail after the first 1-1/4 miles, making navigation difficult. The trail was easier to follow on the switchbacks through the woods approaching the lakes. Ice axes were helpful for crossing the large snowfield above the lakes. The summit scramble was free of snow.

The biggest problem on this trail is the derned blueberries.They continually stop a hiker from making any progress.We did the best we could to eradicate this problem,but barely made a dent. The trail is steeper thanI thought it would be. Saw a bear and her cub,and lots of dark blue bear scat as well. See ya on the trail!

The Mallardy Ridge trail is the one sane way to get to Cutthroat Lakes, and Bald Mountain. It is about 4.5 miles to the lakes, with a 600 ft. total gain, but includes numerous ups and downs, so it can be strenuous in both directions. The DNR road from the Sultan side was locked, so we went to the ranger station at Verlot, who handed us a flyer describing this hike. We had thought about the Bald Mtn. trail, but it is over 10 miles one way. This is a gorgeous hike, with dozens of lakes at the end of the trip. The first 2 miles are an easy walk. It gets a bit harder at 2 miles, as it starts to climb. The lakes are beautiful, with numerous camp sites. Bald Mtn. is an easy climb above the lakes. The flies were pretty bad, and they went away as we applied bug repellant, then the mosquitos found us. It urged us to keep moving. There was almost no snow on the trail. This was a great day hike, and we will do it again.