Got a call from Goober Canari telling me he had Friday off. That meant a hike in the Olympics. Today's choice, Mt Rose. Left home to mostly clear skies but arrival at trailhead to clouds. Trail is in good shape, steady but not too steep, mostly in forest. A few burned areas which are warned about near trailhead (be careful in windy weather). Trail enters Mt Skokomish Wilderness around a mile or so in and around 2 miles is a fork. The upper part of the trail splits into a loop hike. We went right which is longer to the summit (sign said 1.6 miles). This section of the trail is supposedly more faint and rougher but we found it easy to follow. I got stung on the back of the leg by what I believe might have been a bald-faced hornet although I didn't even see it. We finally broke thru to some sunny skies on the final ridge. The summit is a rocky knob and the wind was blowing. We had views down to Lake Cushman. Summit to Alaska phone call to the "Stinger" and then we headed back down. We followed the shorter (1.1 miles) part of the loop down. Goober suffered a couple of oplas (slips), the 2nd resulting in a scraped arm. No broken bones and Goober soldiered on. Sunnier skies by the time we reached the car. No people encountered on way up, 4 on way down. No wildlife to speak of other than a grouse that exploded out of the bushes. Minor wildflowers and huckleberries on summit ridge. Stop at El Serape in Shelton capped the day.

Great hike. No views until you get to the summit and when we got up there we were fogged in and couldn't see anything, but it was still beautiful and a great workout. I will be going back again on a clear day for sure. More of a physical challenge than Elenor due to the steepness essentially the entire time. I wasn't sore after Elenor, but can still feel this hike a few days later. Though it was a bummer to not have visibility at the summit, doing this hike on a hot day would be brutal.

I went on this hike on Monday 9/12.The trail is in good condition, no blowdowns. There was only one other group of people on the trail. I had the summit to myself. This is a good hike if you want a good work out in a relatively short amount of time. Most of the hike is in the woods, but the grand view of the lake from the summit makes it worth the work. At the summit I saw three birds that I believe were grouse. I would take the advice of the Mountaineers and take the steeper half of the summit loop on the way up, otherwise you will have your back turned to some beautiful views of Copper Mountain. That being said, the longer half of the loop can be a little confusing if you plan to take it down. As it leaves the summit it barely appears to be more than a lightly worn side trail, but after a few yards it becomes more obvious. Also for about half a mile or so, it seems to be taking you completely in the wrong direction, but it eventually switchbacks just before you reach the four trees that are grown together. In regards to the Duckabush fire: I could see some smoke in a valley a few miles away, but it did not in any way negatively effect my hike on Mount Rose.

We arrived just before 9:00a. The hike took us a total of 4.25hours, 3 hours of which were climbing to the top. It was a hard hike, but worth it! The views are grand. The loop around the summit is kinda cool - flowers, cool rock formations. WE brought poles, which is advisable if only to lessen the burden and pound on the steep grade down! Also, bring enough water in the heat. We had 2.5 litres between two humans and a dog and just a few drops were left at the bottom. If you have a filter, you can use it as there are a couple of creek crossings.

What a lovely hike! It was definitely strenuous and the trail was relentlessly steep. We took the steeper left fork at the loop going up and then came down the longer way for a total of 6.7 miles. While the first two miles of the trail on the way up were nice, there weren't too many views. The forest itself was just lovely though on the last part of the way up. And the wildflowers close to the summit were amazing. We met a few people on the way. We didn't encounter any snow on the trail. Thanks much to the volunteers who maintain this trail!