A wonderful hike. You are surrounded by mountains, so the views are gorgeous. Many varieties of wildflowers covered the mountain sides. There were still a few small areas of snow, but it was easy to maneuver around. Much of the hike is on narrow trails, often close to the edge with steep drop-offs so it was difficult to walk and view the scenery. I needed to stop periodically to soak in the beauty of the hike. Bugs were’t too bad . . . until you stopped walking, then they were swarming around you. Toilet at trailhead.

A true classic to be share with others!

Road: Potholes and gravel. All vehicles can drive it but obviously high clearance helps.

TH: Sunday at 1030AM it was full but there's still shoulder parking down the way. There is an unkept pit toilet at the TH.

Trail: The summer foliage is in full bloom! Tons of plant biodiversity. This is the peak time to go. The trail is a constant switchback with minimal shade. However, the views and flowers were spectacular to take a stroll in. Bugs weren't too bad. There are two small snow patches on the back side before the top but they are very easy to navigate. 

Great summer hike, although I could see it being awfully hot as there is a lot of exposure and only occasional wooded shade spots. However, it was one of those days with morning clouds and afternoon clearing, so it worked out pretty great for me!

The road in is getting pretty bad. Potholes all the way up. There is a spot to pull over on the last hairpin, and another one halfway up from that, but I feel if you've made it over the ruts just above the last hairpin, you might as well reach the lot. That being said, the lot seemed pretty full all day. The fact that so many people are willing to cross that much FS rutty road to reach the trailhead says a lot about the popularity of this hike.

I definitely had moments of solitude but by no means felt alone on the ascent. This is partly due to the fact that you can see both the parking lot and the ridgetop from nearly the whole trail. It's a steep set of switchbacks the whole way up. The tread is mostly level and comfortable, but there are a lot of spots where the downhill side is eroded enough that it will give some people pause. A lot of these eroded spots are at the top of places where people have cut off switchbacks. Grr.

Wildflowers--so many wildflowers!--were at their peak, I'd say. There are definitely some fading, and others still budding. You'll also notice some varieties that are further along at the bottom than at the top.

When you reach the ridgetop you definitely notice a change. There are more alpine plants and more exposed rock, the views are in a different direction, and even the weather can be noticeably different. It's very cool, and once you've seen that, it's not a bad turnaround point, but also you're near the top of the trail so might as well finish. (The top of the trail is not the absolute summit, which looks unsafe, but I was a bit disappointed not to get the survey marker.) There is one short section of snow on this section even yet; it's not difficult to cross but I did worry it might have rotten spots.

The marmots at the top were scuttling around when I got there, and one of them gave a whistling concert to the groups passing below. Unfortunately I think that might have been a warning to the other marmots because I didn't see any more after that. The only other wildlife was a ton of butterflies and other pollinators on the wildflower meadows.

Bugs only bothered me when I stopped moving, but I'm old and slow so I had to stop and rest a lot on the way up. One of these days I'll remember the bug spray.

Trail is in great shape overall but could use some TLC. On the way down, there were shouts of "ROCK" when someone dislodged a big one, probably from those eroded points I was talking about. It went a long way down and barely missed another party. I understand the importance of the shouting but I also wonder what you're supposed to do when a rock is hurtling toward you from above.

One family with two young'uns deserve respect for giving their kids a wonderful outdoor adventure that they definitely don't appreciate now but will look back on with fondness, and amazement how mom and dad made it happen.

Super scary rockfall on Sauk Mountain today. We were about 2/3 up when we heard people near the top yelling “ROCK!!” We were on the north end of the switchback and we could see all of those on the south end of each switchback were in a dangerous path of a bigger-than-bowling-ball jagged rock flying down the mountain. It picked up momentum as everyone was now yelling “ROCK” and went over the heads of some hikers who didn’t seem to notice it. It could have been a killer. I presume it got knocked loose when someone stepped aside to let others pass and hate to think it was thrown on purpose or knocked down by someone cutting a switchback. It was shocking to see it bounce and fly through the air. So grateful no one was hurt.
This trail is one of my favorites. I really hope it will get some attention to block the shortcuts and shore up the erosion.
The road has potholes, rocks and ruts. It also has long smooth stretches. Drive with care and park at the last hairpin turn if you’re worried about clearance. The outhouse is BAD. I recommend avoiding it if you can.
Started out cloudy and cool which was nice for the up hill hike. Fortunately on the way down the sun came out and along with that, the butterflies. A little snow that felt solid in the center and plenty of mosquitoes on top. I put on some bug spray and only got a few bites. Quite a few marmots today. We heard grouse but didn’t see them.

This trail has been on my radar for 25 years but never got around to it because it's a long drive for a short hike.  We made it worth our while by adding a few other sites to complete the day.

The dirt road is about 8 miles long and some sections have potholes that you have to slow down for. Overall I thought it wasn't too bad but wouldn't suggest trying it with a low clearance sedan.

There are nice views right from the small parking lot. There were about 15 cars when we arrived at 10 am. 

There's an amazing variety of wildflowers along the entire trail. Everything seems to be in full bloom now. Views of the N Cascade peaks are outstanding in all directions 

Flies and mosquitoes will find you if you stop moving for more than 20 seconds. Deet was effective. 

We did a second short hike at Rockport SP to enjoy the beautiful old growth forest preserved here. 

Topped off the day with nice burger at the Rockport Bar and Grill. The next door campground has excellent access to swimming in the Skagit river. Much appreciated by Sky on this warm day.

On the drive home, we stopped at the Oso landslide memorial. This was completed relatively recently. It is a beautiful tribute to the lives that were lost. It also offer some interesting interpretive information about landslides etc. It is really well done.

4mi rt, 1200 ft. In spite of the short journey it's very beautiful and satisfying. Big reward for low effort.