The view at the top is worth it. Remember this as you navigate the initial rocky incline and the switchbacks on the way up.

Early morning and mid week is quiet here. I arrived at 8:30 a.m. on a Tuesday morning and was the only one parked in the pull out, and the sole hiker on the trail. Trail is in good shape - dry, no snow, easy to follow. There is a well-placed cable to hang on to for the final scramble to the summit. It took one hour up and 45 mins down for this 60-something city walker and one small dog.

I recommend carrying a walking stick, plenty of water for you and the dog, and bug spray to reapply at the top where the mosquitoes and biting flies are also enjoying the view.

Stats:

• Distance: 3-1/4 miles
• Duration: 1-3/4 hours
• Vertical: 1290 ft
• Weather: sunny, 70s, some marine layer drifting in and out
• Trail: excellent condition; briefly starts as a road-to-trail conversion, but then gets down to business with single-track switchbacks; beautiful open forest with large trees and good views in all directions; trail travels out onto a fin with steep drop-offs on both sides (although no real exposure as the trail is wide), making for a unique perspective and 360 views at the summit; a very quiet trail that is like a cross between Little Si and Rattlesnake Ledge - similar vertical but packed into less miles so a little steeper; good alternative to both on a busy weekend; bugs were not a problem until we reached the summit where for whatever reason the mosquitos were suddenly bad; butterflies at the summit as noted in the trail description
• Road: Fair; stretches with significant pot holes so I would suggest AWD; the parking area has room for about 7 cars; lots of flowers on the road!!
• Takeaway: Looking to justify beer and pizza at Dru Brew, we took a quick first-time hike Mount Catherine; it is a quick trail through a pretty forest; lots of blueberry bushes; the views to the north and south are excellent; Silver Mt just up the road will be next for me in this area

We made a late decision to go hiking on Saturday instead of Sunday. This hike worked out great! Relatively short hike, and great views at the top.

We got to the trailhead at about 4:00pm. I would not drive on this forest road in a sedan. Our Kia Seltos was fine, but it has good clearance, and we took the potholes very slowly.

There were about 6-7 cars when we arrived, but it was easy to find a spot to pull off the road. The trail is in pretty good condition. No snow. It took us about 48 minutes to get to the top. Some mosquitoes at the top but with bug spray they mostly left us alone. There was only one other couple when we arrived, so there was plenty of room to enjoy the views.

Bunch of potholes on the road but it was doable with our forester. We saw few normal sedans make it as well, just takes time and focus. 

The hike was awesome, very easy to navigate, pretty short (about 60 minutes up and maybe 40 down) but steady ascent so we were pretty thirsty as we got to the top. The trail was in a great shape just a few branches sticking into the trail by the top. Both the tween kid and the dog managed easily. Few tiny snow patches helped the dog cool down a little but I think these will be gone in a few days. Lot of mosquitos on the top, but the views were worth it, one of the best views at this "price". We didn't have issues with the mosquitos except the summit. We were the first to park there at around 10:30am. We like this hike a lot, short but sweet. I prefer the views from the Granite Mountain but it's a lot more work to get there.

FS Road: Large potholes just prior the bridge (over Mill Creek). The place that used to be horrible at the hairpin turn has been filled in with gravel so it no longer requires high clearance vehicle. However, past that there are 2 deep gullies in the road which can be easily straddled until the road is graded. Beyond the Mount Catherine TH, the road gets extremely rocky by Windy Pass (PCT crossing).

Trail: The trail is in good shape with some lingering mud and a bit rocky at first. The bugs (mosquitoes) kept us moving. Bandit, the crazy dog, was glad to be on the trail again. I did have to give the 14 year old a couple boosts to get to the summit. We didn't spend much time on the summit due to bugs and finished the hike in less than 2 hours. We checked out Olallie Meadow off the PCT as well and Bandit took a nice refreshing swim at Gold Pond before we left the pass.