Road is potholed near the bottom, but in decent shape, no problem getting a passenger car up. The road is closed by snow less than a mile below the trailhead. Probably minimum of two weeks before it melts out. Walking up the partially snow-covered road to the parking lot was no problem. There has been a lot of slumping on the trail, but it is in decent shape nonetheless. There are a couple of short snowfields near the bottom. There is a short, but quite tall snow drift near the top of the talus field ascent. It is in fact too tall to climb without an ice axe, even though its only about 15 feet wide. Its just a weird snow configuration. However you can drop down below the snow berm without great difficulty and bypass it. Once you reach the ridge line the trail becomes more problematic. You can easily move up and down the snow-free ridge for several hundred yards, but the main trail over to the saddle above the lake and then on to the summit is completely obscured by snow. Given the steep terrain and treacherous traverse, we elected to turn around at this point. The marmot colony at the ridge line was in full swing, lots of critters running around. The wild flowers are beginning to take off, particularly further up the slope. Quite nice with perhaps 10 or more varieties already blooming. Having seen this spot in past years, I would guess the peak bloom is still a couple of weeks away. There were some bugs along the trail, but not really too big a problem. It was remarkably hot given the elevation and haze; we were glad we had brought plenty of water and sun protection.

A nice way to spend a sunny sunday morning, climbing up sauk mountain for the wonderful view. However, there is still quite a bit of snow up there, so much you can't drive to the trail head. If you bring hiking poles and have good traction you can still hike up to see the view, but we were ill-prepared. Fortunately, the view even from the parking lot (which we hiked up to) was still quite nice.

Hiked up Sauk Mountain via a direct ascent of the slopes where the trail typically switchbacks up the hill. The snow at the top is steep and with a southern exposure, an early start is recommended. Also having and knowing how to use an ice axe would add a measure of safety. The road is clear to 3000 ft of elevation (approx. 4.8 miles). Two switchbacks up you will see an avalanche chute coming down to the road from which you can ascend snow all the way to the ridge (straight up). Beautiful views and plenty of birds singing. Great snowboard descent down the front or back (towards sauk lake) side.

Trying to avoid the avy slopes on the Sauk Mtn.Trail, Ive been looking at a route that picks up the ridge to the s.e. of the open slopes. I found a trip report from Vertigo from 4/19/2000 that mentions an 'old Sauk Trail' so thought I'd take a look. We found the 'overgrown logging track' west of Conrad Rd. but it was clearly marked with No Trespassing signs. We walked another 100 yd. west and started up. Following a bearing of 320*, we crossed a maze of old roads but never picked up the trail. At about 2800', we hit some cliff bands and headed due north to get around them. At 3000' we hit the ridge and went back to our bearing of 320. We also hit solid snow at this point. Followed the ridge until it broke out of the trees and we could see the summit. We put snowshoes on at about 4000' as the sun had softened the snow enough to break though. Reached the summit at about 1:30, 5.5 hrs. from the car. Not much of a view as it was mostly cloudy but still had a bit of sun to have lunch. Retraced our route down but somehow picked up the old trail at 1100', 800' above the start. We followed it down and hit Hwy. 20 about 1/4 mile west of our start. Car to car in about 8.5 hrs./ 5200' gain.

We hiked this short, steep, but very sweet hike last Saturday. The weather couldn't have been better -- sunny, a few high clouds, with temps in the mid/high 60's or low 70's. All those switchbacks on the exposed face of that hill would be miserable in really hot weather. We could certainly tell that the summer this year has been cooler and wetter than the past few. The trail is nearly overgrown with lush, green plants and flowers, despite its exposure to sun and the heavy use this trail gets. The flowers were stunning as were the butterflies! We have never seen such a variety of butterflies in large numbers along one trail. They certainly added a whimsical touch to the hike. We were also surprised to see so many honey bees working over the flowers -- where in that rather harsh environment could their hives be? Forget about finding peace and solitude at the top, especially on a Saturday! So many people were crowded into the small area at the summit that it was NOT conducive to peaceful meditation on that awesome 360-degree view. Along with all the people we were in the company of numerous chipmunks. Probably the most memorable sight was that of a large hawk gliding by just below where we were sitting -- it was no doubt eyeing all the chipmunks with lunch in mind! \ We thought this was a fabulous hike, all in all. Definitely one to repeat in the future. Oh, don't forget your insect repellent -- the mosquitoes were plentiful at the summit, along with a few biting flies.