Loved this hike. My mom and I did this as our frequently occurring mom & daughter hikes, we have nothing but good things to say about it. The trail was immediately beautiful, the wildflowers right now are just stunning. I will say, if you have a fear of heights or ledges, this is not a good trail for you. The areas where people cut the trail are pretty rough, be cautious! We started hiking later in the day, around 1:30, and got back to the car around 4. Definatley will be doing again!

Socked Mountain today. The clouds shifted around in the area but never departed. Sometime a rocky peak would emerge and a few seconds later disappear. Even when we were about thirty yards from the summit we could not see it. The farthest view we had was of Sauk Lake for a moment. On the plus side, there are lots of wildflowers still blooming which I was surprised at. Of particular note were the vibrant Indian paintbrush (especially in the muted fog) and fields of asters.

At the parking lot there were license plates from Utah, Florida, Illinois and Massachusetts. At the summit we met met families from Michigan and Wisconsin. I would expect to see out of state hikers at the more popular places like the national parks but these people found some of the more remote hikes, braving the rough roads to get here. Good on ya!

The trail is mostly good condition except for where people have cut through the switchback. They should be made to repair and maintain every one of those dangerous places. We didn't see anyone cutting across but the evidence is worse every year and more hazardous.

The Sauk Mountain road has its usual potholes and washboarding but we thought the last bit up to the parking lot has a little better than in the past but a higher clearance than a sedan would be recommended.

Today was our annual mom and daughter hike, and I wanted to share one of my favorites. This one has a lot of bang for the buck with a short, but steep trail lined with wildflowers and views in every direction! The road going up is the usual potholey forest road, no trouble until the last hairpin turn, then it has jagged rocks and deep ruts. We made it in a Crosstrek and saw a regular sedan at the TH so it can be driven. The trail is narrow and rocky in places where people have cut the switchback so much that the trail is almost eroded away, PLEASE JUST STOP, you are endangering your fellow hikers! Once at the lookout site, you can see Baker, Glacier, Whitehorse to the south and lots of N Cascade peaks. There are still lots of flowers, the early ones are gone, but the later ones? You bet your sweet aster, lots of blooms, pearly everlasting, yarrow, goldenrod, bluebells, and still some paintbrush. If you don't want to do the climb up to the top, if you stop by the trees on the back side where you can see the lake, you won't get the lookout panorama, but you will have seen in sections what you see at the top. My hub tagged along behind us but he has been hiking with Father Time for a few years now and he was only able to make it to the trees. He felt lucky to go that far but this was bittersweet as it was most likely his last trip up this favorite trail. Loo was OK but is unmaintained, so you never know. Rockport State Park is a good stop before you head up. My daughter lost an earring in the parking lot, if you find it please let me know.  Hiking in August for the Hikeathon WTA fundraiser: If you would like to donate:  give.wta.org/Muledeer2024 

The commute: The drive was super pretty and the mountain road wasn’t that bad. A few potholes that were easy to navigate. The only challenge was navigating two way traffic on a smaller road.

Bathrooms: The toilet was clean though had quite the odor. There was half a roll of toilet paper in there but I’d recommend bringing your own as this toilet isn’t maintained.

Trail conditions: The trail was gorgeous. Wildflowers were still blooming and it was one of the more magical hikes I’ve been on. It made me sad to see how many people have cut through the switchbacks and worn down the trail. The switchbacks are so gentle and nice! It’s a hike that will make you sweat but it’s so worth it. It does get a bit tricky at the top as there are a lot of paths/trails so it was hard to know which way to go.

Bugs: The bugs weren’t bad in the morning but started to gather as we were eating lunch. They were much worse in the early afternoon when we were hiking down. I wore 2 bug bracelets and didn’t get any bites but my hiking buddy and my pup were getting a few bites here and there.

Timing: It took us about an hour to hike up and then we spent a half hour enjoying the views while eating lunch. Another hour back down to the car. Be advised that the trail is pretty thin so it can be challenging to yield to oncoming hikers.



In all will definitely do this hike again!

Pretty easy hike with plenty of parking. The last part of Sauk mountain road is a little rough but most cars can easily pass through. Bug spray might be helpful to some, but definitely isn’t required. Hike is pretty straightforward with switchbacks that wrap around to a viewing area.