Snow on the road at the 11.9 mile 'T' jct. We made it past but probably not all vehicles could, it took a bit of work. Then about a mile of clear road, and was again covered at 13.1 miles just after we turned right to stay on 7030, so we decided to park there and hike. The climb was rough, and the top was still covered with a large snowfield. It was great, beautiful, quiet, but... TICKS! Lots of ticks. I found 7 on me total (including the one that hitchhiked on me all the way home somehow, found him crawling across my toe at home as I was gearing down). http://www.wta.org/signpost/hiking-in-tick-country Also, update GPS: N 47° 10.158' W 121° 29.424'

Drove up yesterday and made it about 8 miles in on FS 70-7030 before the snow got too deep to drive through. We decided to hike to the trail head through the snow, and got to the trail head. But, after 4 miles of hiking through pretty soft snow we decided to head back. The weather rolled in as we were taking pictures of the Butte, so we ended up hiking back with it snowing. I have no idea when this trail will be more easily accessible, but I can say that we were walking anywhere from 2-13 feet of snow. Worth the trek if you have snowshoes or are willing to stomp through the snow.

We tried making it to Kelly butte yesterday but about 3.5 miles from the trailhead, the road was so filled with snow that you would need a snowmobile to continue on it. So, we decided to walk to the trailhead. The walk was pretty tiring because your feet sunk in about a foot every time you took a step. We reached the trail head and made it about a mile on the trail before there was a huge snowfield that would be extremely dangerous to cross. The hike probably needs another few weeks for all the snow to melt, but it was still a fun adventure to attempt it this early in the season.

Hit up this hike right before winter hit in full! Coming down from Bellingham, I picked up some friends in Seattle and went off to Kelly Butte hoping to get to the lookout and do some skiing. It took us about 1 hr 45 min to get to the trailhead from Federal way. The logging ads are all over the place up there and its pretty easy to get lost if you don't have a map. But we had one and it was a piece of cake getting there. The Trailhead was right at 4300Ft. and there was no snow. Pretty bummed out that there would be no skiing we reluctently left the skis in the the car (this place is notorious for car break-in's, and I can easily see why with the sheer amount of people form Seattle coming up all the time). It took us 15 min to walk the .6 mile old closed off logging rd to the start of the trail. The beginning of the trail is pretty awesome and I commend those who made it, cause it really is a masterpiece of a trail set right into the steep mountain slope. It took us around 20 min to get past the steep switchbacks, then another 20 min to cross the longer slightly uphill slope to get to the lookout. There were snow patches on the top, but not anything deep, and we got there around 5:20pm without the use of headlamps. The lookout itself I was told would be open. We got there to find a wooden storm door covering the original door, it was still intact, but was missing a couple boards out of the middleI. I was supper bummed, but on looking closer, I saw there were only 4 long philips head screws holding it in place. My friend had a leatherman with a screwdriver on it, and after taking turns, the door came off and the original door was unlocked. The lookout is pretty nice. There were some beers there left by previous visitors. There were 3 of us, one of which slept on the nice cot, and the wooden bed with minimal padding fit the other 2 of us. There was a table for cooking on, probably around 4 chairs, and some fuel supplies for stoves like the msr pocket rocket etc... I was dissapointed to see that the original fire finder device had been taken out. There is no water at the top except for some in containers in the lookout. All the shutters were locked for the winter. We hung out, played some games and went to bed. It was howling all night long, and we woke up to 3 inches of new snow. We used a lot of snow melting for breakfast. After sweeping up, making sure it was good for the winter and signing the book, we started out back to the car. The hike back wasn't bad, and because the trail on the top flater section is indented in the ground about a foot, the trail was relatively easy to find in the new snow. The sketchy part came when the switchbacks appeared. Because the majority of the switchbacks are stepping stones, it is really slippery, and one wrong step can lead to a slip down the switchbacks. We made it back to the car in about 50 min, where we found the car was still intact, and also covered in about 2 inches of snow. We put on chains, but in my Subaru Forester, we really did not need them. There were a lot of trucks mobbing around the area and a lot of people were out hunting. I would take every precaution because of the snowfall, and the fact it's pretty slippery. Pretty soon the switchbacks won't be accessible, and the only way up will be if there's enough snow to kick steps up the steep embankment. That is of-course if you can even access the trailhead by car. (there was snow all the way down at 2500Ft. So my guess is that we were the last ones up there for the winter, but if you're feeling adventurous and well prepared, it's a pretty awesome place, and well worth the hike. Feel free to ask any questions in the comments.

This was our third hike to the lookout and was to be a fall color hike. We were really looking forward to seeing the red blaze of the vine maples which we remembered from an earlier hike on October 18, 2011. Unfortunately everything was really early this year and even though we came in early October we probably missed the vine maple color by three or four weeks. There is still some fall color from other plants and on a partly cloudy day the hike was quite beautiful. Mt. Rainier was visible as soon as we started ascending the switchbacks up the craggy side of Kelly Butte. The lookout was open so we paused for lunch inside, while the wind gusted outside. This lookout features a vintage Osborne 1934 Model Fire Finder on a stand in the center of the lookout. My understanding is that this historic lookout is available for overnight use on a first come first served basis. I took some photos of the interior just in time because only 30 minutes later, as we were descending the trail, we met two Forest Service Rangers who were hiking up to shutter and lock up the lookout for the winter. The meadows at the top of the butte are covered with bear grass and conifers. It wouldn’t be a stretch to call it Bear Grass Butte. The views on the way down are superb because you can see Mt. Rainier in most of them. It was a really fun hike with a couple of caveats. The road is rough and at times steep and narrow. It’s not fun. It was also a Sunday in October and on the drive we encountered two open air target ranges where groups were practicing shooting hand guns and rifles, one off the paved road about 5.5 miles in and the other off the unpaved road about 1.3 miles in on that section. We could hear their gunshots as we hiked up the switchbacks until we got to the meadows. So... go during the week. I took two 360 virtual reality panoramas, one inside the lookout, with the Osborne Fire Finder, and another on the craggy switchbacks section of the trail, which shows what fall colors remained. If you want an immersive experience, check them out. Here is the link to view them in a pano viewer at 360cities.net. Be sure to click the full screen icon as you roll over the upper right of the photo for best viewing. Kelly Butte Lookout, Interior, South Cascades, WA State https://www.360cities.net/image/kelly-butte-lookout-interior-south-cascades-wa-state-usa Kelly Butte Trail, Cragside Switchbacks, South Cascades, WA State https://www.360cities.net/image/kelly-butte-trail-cragside-switchbacks-south-cascades-wa-state-usa