two of us and spike the wonder dog went up the trail yesterday. snow at the top, but otherwise clear. flowers are spotty. lots of people on the weekend. should be less crowded during the week, but according to the sedro-wooley ranger station, the trail is closed for maintenance 8/8 to 8/12 and 8/15 to 8/19.

Great Hike! A lot of switchbacks but you have a view on the way up. There's snow at the first little bit and the last part of the trail. We were fine with just tennis shoes. Amazing view at the top.

This was a beautiful hike on a beautiful day. Only a family of five made it to the top before me. I passed 50 other hikers on the way back down...before noon! The road to the trailhead is in good condition for 6.7 of the seven miles, where fairly steep snowpack covers most of the road. That did not deter the hikers, who parked their vehicles along the narrow road for over 1/4 mile from the snowpack. The trail is in good condition. There are several ribbons placed by USFS designating minor repairs, but even now these areas pose no problem. The trail is snowfree until just before the approach to the summit (see photo #2). This area is easily traversed without traction devices. The first summit can be reached easily, but you will need traction devices for the third (and actual) summit. I knew from prior experience that there would be snowfields on the East side of the mountain, especially this year. I took crampons, which turned out to be exactly what I needed to take the summit track (see photo #3) to the summit. There are many varieties (I counted more than two dozen) of wildflowers that are just beginning to put on their show. I always enjoy the Tiger Lilies, Glacier Lilies, Columbine, Phlox, Paintbrush, and Lupine. There are Wooly Marmots and Ptarmagins with chicks to add even more interest to a great place. The views are magnificent: Baker to the North, Rainier to the South, Glacier Peak to the Southeast, etc. The river valley to the West and the little lake to the East round out the scenery. There are no bugs, just too many hikers. Go early.

Joining me today were Phlemy, The Transporter, Blissman and Cascade Dreams. I'd chosen this trip thinking that there would be some snow, but not much. Wrong. There is snow where it counts! We got a somewhat early start so the snow was fairly icy in spots. It was also steep as you went up the face of Sauk so it was a bit treacherous even for those equipped. Three of our group had ice axes and the rest did not. I believe that ice axes are important to have on this trip, but not realizing this I'd neglected to ask everyone to bring theirs. Phlemy and I called it quits about halfway up, and the rest of the group shortly after. Still, the views are spectacular from the parking area so it wasn't a complete loss. One awful incident happened while I was waiting for the rest of the group at the parking area. A skier was starting up the road with his two dogs when a truck ran over one of them. It was an accident that no one could have helped, but there were hurt feelings all around. The dog's owner was very gracious in not blaming the driver, and tried to help him feel better. Still, an awful incident. The dog was moving afterward, but I'm certain he had internal injuries by the way he was behaving. So sad.

We knew Sauk would be a little snowy, but we were still surprised at just HOW snowy it is--even the road getting to the parking lot! We were hiking with a toddler and a dog, and only wearing low-tops shoes, so our plan was to just go to the parking lot and even then we wished we had boots and more trekking poles within our group. First the road: Road in good shape, not very many potholes or washboards.  Drivable to within 3/4 mile of trailhead (about 3 switchbacks down)  then about 1/4 mile of patchy snow that might melt within a week or two.  Last ~ 1/2 mile (last 2 switchbacks) are super snowy--solid snow 4-20 feet deep (big avy piles...will be there for a looooong time).  Parking lot has about 6 feet of snow, but picnic table is melted out and makes a nice viewpoint.  Trekking poles and good boots are good for getting to the parking lot!!  Snow is very firm in morning, softening as day goes on. We stopped at parking lot, since we were hiking with a toddler.  Switchbacks look to be about 70-80% melted out in the lower section, upper switchbacks more like 70-80% snowcovered.  You start crossing steep snow right after leaving parking lot.  Ice axes and trekking poles and good boots are all very wise, altho there does look to be a boot bath developing,  at least lower down, and we did see one couple going with just trekking poles (but they had not yet reached the very snowy upper switchbacks, where I think it would be a bad idea to go without ice axe).  No flowers are out yet, needless to say, tho a few yellow violets and spring beauty was growing near the road. Bit crazy for Sauk!!