The lion, the witch, and the wardrobe. This weekend clearly concludes the hiking season there lack of. After missing the last couple of months of hiking, I tried to capture the last hike of this season. The amount of snow that has fallen overnight was startling. Moving quickly, trying to beat the clock, hiked to the summit, trees and ground already heavy with snow I wondered if i had missed a season? Hiking to the summit with the strong winds and snow rapidly falling I encountered a mountain goat who quickly retreated. As I descended, the storm growing with intensity, I actually wondered if I had seen that goat? Trees, leaves, ground heavy with snow, loosing light, i started to look for the lion to help guide me to the end. Let's hope for better dayz ahead and the early Spring we deserve!

The trail is steep and rocky the first two miles but in good shape. Those two miles are harder on the feet on the way down. There is still a little fall color. At about 2.5 miles powdery snow on the trail starts that quickly increases and stays at about 3" up to the summit. It was fairly easy to walk in and the footprints made it easy to follow the trail all the way up. There are a couple of fairly easy water crossings. We saw just four people the whole day. I totally agree with the poster that said the upper part of this trail is better than just going to The Owl Spot. On a clear day you can see Mount Rainier from just below the summit in addition to the nice Mt Si area and beyond views from the summit.

Trail is a little hard to find. But what a great day,

The second half of the hike is the best. Don't stop at the 2 milepoint view. Keep going as the trail is better than the skid road. You'll gain another 1600' elevation fairly easy. Views from the top include N.Bend, I-90, Chester Morse Reservoir, and some of the Alpine Lakes area. There are some interesting cliffs/caves in the first mile that reminded me of hiking in West Virgina (minus the coal seams) I just wonder why the trail description only goes for two miles ???

Wow, what a spectacular early fall day! To take advantage of the sunny weather, I did a long ramble in the hills near North Bend, using the vast interconnecting trail system around Mount Washington. From the official Upper Twin Falls trailhead parking area just off Exit 38 (Discover Pass required), I followed the Mt. Washington Trail all the way to the top of the mountain, where I was greeted with a great view of Mount Rainier and Glacier Peak gleaming in the clear air. The Mt. Washington trail is a wonderfully diverse route that has been described here in many trip reports, so I won't mention too many details here. Next, I descended the east ridge of Mt. Washington on a short steep trail, then followed the various ridgetop logging roads that comprise the Great Wall route. There were good views from this road/trail also, and a surprising number of flowers such as foxglove, dandelion, and pearly everlasting brightened the roadsides. At the 3800' junction, marked by a weather-beaten sign, I veered right and followed the decaying logging road that heads down to Change Creek. This road was carved out of a precipitous hillside and offered more spectacular vistas of the I-90 area peaks. A mile beyond, near the bottom of the valley, I located the top end of the Pond Trail (marked by a metal post), and followed that indistinct path down a steep wooded slope. Took the short side trail (signed) for a brief visit to the pond, whose water level was still low, then followed the rest of the Pond Trail to where it rejoins the Change Creek road. I continued by following the brushy old logging road as it gently descended the Change Creek valley in broad switchbacks. Lonely and little traveled country here. About 3 miles from the Great Wall Trail junction, the old logging road came to an end at the Hall Point junction. The final mile of the Change Creek trail descended steeply to the Iron Horse Trail, its narrow tread weaving a tricky, scenic course around cliffs and through rockslides. The trail ended on the Iron Horse Trail between the Hall and Change Creek trestle bridges. To close the 11 mile loop, I followed the Iron Horse Trail a mile back to the parking lot. All in all, a nice day in the woods, and hardly anyone was to be seen. Maintenance needs: The Mt. Washington Trail is in good shape, free of mud and blowdown, although it is rocky and washed-out in places. Drain dips and rocky tread need repair in these sections. The newly constructed trail leading to the top of the mountain has excessive outslope in spots.