Escaped the extraordinary heat today (Thursday) by heading up to Mt Townsend. The roads in are in great shape; my little Prius wasn't challenged. Only two other cars at trailhead when I headed up about 10:30am. Trail is also in great shape... One small stream crossing ~30min up the trail. No logs to step over, no bugs, and only the usual small snow patches remain just above Camp Windy. The adjacent small pond remains snow covered. Few flowers. Were some rhodies blooming along the drive up, but not along the trail. Great views from the top today all around. Seems like the amount of snow I encountered is about what I recall finding when I did this same hike in late June of 2008. Less snow this year? Melting earlier?

Tried to access the standard trailhead via Lord's Lake Loop Rd, but was stopped by another pair of hikers in their truck who informed me that snow covered the road 7 miles from the trailhead. Plan B saw me heading toward the Little Quilcene trailhead via Bon Jon Pass. The snow was blocking the road only 1/2 mile from the trailhead, so off I went. Snow was patchy, becoming constant as you round the north flank of Townsend into the Sleep Hollow headwaters. Its Spring, so no footwear is perfect - one moment your post-holing through deep soft snow changing into snow shoes, the next the trail is bone dry. Se la vie. Hanging a left at the turn off for Townsend up Dirty Face Ridge the views really open up. The air also becomes peculiarly thinner...yeah, I'm still getting my old lungs back. The snow becomes less consistent with the more southerly exposure, alternating between melting fields of snow and bare trail. Little blue flowers dotted the heather and a few birds courted one another with their calls. The summit was amazing - a beautiful clear blue sky day with Baker to St. Helens bookending the Puget Sound. Took about 3 hours to get up. I decided against returning the same way - just hate up and backs. So I descended the ridge below the North summit. The 72 degree weather had softened up the snow so much, that I changed my mind and headed back beneath the summit. I hadn't brought my ice ax, but after a few test glissades, realized I wouldn't need it for the main chute. So down on my butt I went, riding caboose in a slow moving snow cone of an avalanche. A little farther and the drainage, typical of the Olympics, began to look like it would cliff me out, so I headed north via game trails through the woods. Made the road in about 2 hours from the summit, and a mile walk back to the car.

Great family hike and easy to get to in a car. This hike is accessible from the Quilcene side of the national forest. It's pretty easy to find because it is well marked and directions on the forest service site are pretty good. You have to drive on forest roads for quite a while but they're paved right up until you get to the trailhead so you can get there easy in a car. I would note, however, that there are some pretty formidable potholes on the forest road that you probably wouldn't want to encounter in the dark. The hike itself is another good bang-for-your-buck hike because you start getting nice views of the sound and the rest of the Olympics pretty early on. The trail is in very good condition and the elevation change is not so dramatic that you have to be a marathon runner to enjoy the hike.

We hiked up Mt. Townsend on a gorgeous Saturday. We started at the lower parking lot and got there around 2pm. There were a few cars down there, but not as many as the upper lot (which was super crowded). From the upper parking lot to the top of Mt. Townsend the trails were in excellent condition. The only blow-downs were on the 1.2 mile trail from the lower lot to the upper lot and there were about 3 of them, but it was easy to navigate around them. This was our first trip to the top of Mt. Townsend, and we cannot wait to go back. The views were amazing and we were able to see all the Mountains in the range (Baker, Glacier, Rainier, Adams, St. Helens) along with Seattle and the San Juans. We were a little out of shape and slow, so it took us about 3 hours to get to the top and 2 hours down. I highly recommend this hike!

We headed out despite the rain, hoping for a clearing later in the day. By the time we reached the trailhead at 10 a.m., the sun was out, and it never rained again the whole day. There were only five other cars at the trailhead, and we assumed (falsely, as it turned out), that the weather had scared away the holiday hikers). The trail is in great shape all the way. I was surprised to find quite a few wildflowers remaining, even if they looked a bit ragged. From the summit, the entire west view was blocked by thick clouds--it was as if the rest of the Olympics didn't exist. The east view was better, for occasionally, the wind blew clouds away and there were glimpses of the Hood Canal. The wind was strong and it was VERY cold. It felt like November. We were up on Townsend in July on a gorgeous day, having climbed up from the Little Quilcene trailhead. Then the view was crystal clear. So, we weren't as disappointed as I suspect many of the other hikers who came later, who were hiking Mt. And come they did. We left the summit at 1 p.m., after eating our lunch huddled under rocks on the east side. Suddenly, streams of hikers were arriving. When we got back to the car, the lot was completely full and there were cars parked a long way up the narrow road.