Great hike for the solstice!! Trail is snow free and for the most part bug free. Excellent view of the whole region from the top...San Juans included!!! If there is a good forecast and its cloudy at the trailhead, don't be discouraged...things should get better as you go (no guarantees though). No water above windy camp but a few pockets of snow to be melted...bring extra fuel if you're staying the night above windy camp.

Trail is in fine shape. Only snowpatch worthy of note was right at the juction with the short spur to Windy Lake, and it is no problem to cross (covers about 10-20 yards of trail). If you are unfamiliar with the trail, spot the ""trail ->"" sign nailed to a tree on the far side of the patch, and follow it. Flowers were good, but will soon be better. Lupine just ready to start. Lots of phlox chocolate lillies, some glacier lillies, paintbrush, some wallflower, and more. Conditions at the top may have been the best we've seen in many visits. Light breeze, near ideal temperature, and incredible visibility. Mt. Adams was clearly visible - and our maps indicate it is 140 miles away!

We took the opportunity of a really clear day to check out the view atop Mt. Townsend. Wow! what a site, five snow capped volcanos (Baker, Glacier Peak, Ranier, Mt. St. Helens! and Mt. Adams!) were all clearly visible. So were the snow capped Olympic Mountains and all of Puget Sound (the urban sprawl of Seattle however was hidden behind some low lying smog). It was hard to believe that it was still spring as there was only a few small patches of snow along the way to the 6280 ft summit. The hike will likely be even better in a week or two when more flowers start blooming (no Rhododedrons and very little heather had done so yet) Happy Hiking David & Karen

i was really excited to go hiking this beautiful day. so excited i didn't think for about ten seconds as i approached the trail head and drove too far, getting stuck in the snow. so stupid. only a couple hundred yards from the trail head and there i was all by myself, 14 miles from the main road, no shovel, no one else around. one truck nearby in which i found a hand shovel. i spent over three hours, making a little bit of progess, unstuck but unable to get myself back, when finally the owner of the truck returned. mike was the greatest guy and spent about an hour finally helping me back to dry land. so don't drive too far! stop before the snow on the road. mike said he had done the hike to the townsend summit in two and half hours up, one and a half down and hadn't needed the snowshoes he'd carried. in addition to rescuing me, he was right about everything. his times were exactly how long it took and i left my snowshoes in the car and was glad i did. snow on and off on the trail through the trees, then head straight up once it leaves the trees since the trail is pretty hard to follow. an ice axe advised for this part but probably not absolutely necessary. up near the summit very little snow at all. great views. glissade on the way down was a bit soft when i got to it. when i passed by mostly unfrozen Sink Lake in the evening i got to watch a beaver trolling back and forth. also saw four deer on the drive back down. a great hike right now for the early season. just don't drive too close to the trailhead! the upper trailhead won't be accessible by car for probably a month.

We approached the trailhead from the south, thinking we would opt for Marmot Pass or Tunnel Creek if we couldn't get close. But the snow did not get thick until about 1/3 of a mile below the lower trailhead, so we chose to do the Mt. Townsend trail. A few people have tried to get closer, but it isn't worth it. The road to the upper trail head is still completely blocked. The trail itself is almost entirely covered in well packed snow, very hard and icy in places. We used our MSR snowshoes the whole way. I think this may be when they are most valuable. Coming down the trail is a snap with all that traction. We only hiked to a little below Camp Windy before turning back because of time constraints, but it was a glorious day to be hiking in the Olympics; for most of the trip we were in shorts. No blow downs, wash outs or other problems in the three or four miles we did.