MON JUNE 9 - 7:30 AM, beginning of a sunny, clear, hot day.

Trail Head

• Remember your Discovery Pass!
• At 0730 on a MON - 3 cars out of lot that holds about 30.
• At 1230 there were 10 cars.
• Privy is clean, but not stocked (presumably after weekend). Thank you WA State taxpayers and Forestry workers.

Trail Conditions

• Trail is in very good shape with only a few easy to step-over logs
• Because this is a lower usage trail, foliage is encroaching on the pathway.
• No water obstacles. Two small brooks and a 100' section of gravel trail that co-hosts a very small stream.
• While the trail is mostly in forest, it mostly faces south and you get a fair amount of morning sun and heat.

Bugs

• Bugs were not a problem at lower elevations, despite water and vegetation.
• But at higher elevations, the mosquitos were nasty and required your preferred bug spray.

Trail Aesthetics

• Pros:
  • Very little traffic. I love the solitude of a trail by myself.
  • Drop-dead view of Mt. Rainier from just below the top.
  • Nice workout
• Cons:
  • The trail itself is pretty boring.  It is scrawny second growth forest with no charming glens, like you come across on Mt. Si.
  • Really nothing to see until just shy of the top.
  • The summit itself is a bunch of trees with only a peekaboo view to the north.
  • bugs.

A busy day at the trailhead because it was a National Trails day! 

Whew, this was a workout. We took the suggestion of adding the Great Wall trail and part of the Olallie Trail which added a bit of mileage. The trail was okay the whole way up. There were some wet spots, and some blowdowns to maneuver around, but nothing memorable. 

The memorable thing was the top. And you'd think it would be because of the great views, but nah. There was an unrelenting horde of mosquitoes at the top. Yeesh, it was so bad. No one was staying at the top for a break. We tried for a moment, but I had barely placed my sitpad down before I was grabbing it back up to quickly flee. We ended up just powering through the downhill back to the car. 

10.5 miles and about 4hrs35min car to car. 

Great hike, but unfortunately three cars had multiple windows smashed at the trailhead when I got there at 10am :(

As for the hike, the main trail is pretty reasonable. I took the Ollalie Trail west at 3400 feet to another option for getting to the final switchbacks, and that was pretty terrible. There’s definitely a trail, but I should have noticed that the trail was perpendicular to the topo lines, which meant it was very steep. Taking the normal path down was great in comparison!

For being right off the highway, the trail never felt crowded like the similar hikes in the area often do.  

Arrived at the trailhead around 8:30 am and the lot was about a third full. The bathroom was open, stocked, and relatively clean. 

The map posted at the trailhead isn't accurate, so having a real map or a GPS app is helpful to make sure you take the right forks along the way. The trail is in good shape, though in some places the bushes are encroaching. The majority of the trail is loose, sharp rock. I was glad to have my poles for the descent, as it's steep and the shifting rocks could easily result in a broken ankle. 

The weather was ideal, pika were meeping (though I never spotted one), the mountain was out, and the chipmunks were out in force. Don't forget to stop and appreciate the beauty around you!

My GPS clocked 9.66 miles RT and I didn't really take any detours, so I'm not sure how I added an extra mile to my hike. 

Beautiful day with a beautiful view of Mt. Rainier. There was one section with about 15 feet of snow that was maybe 6 inches deep. I imagine it will be gone within the next week. No bugs.  Parking lot was very busy, as is to be expected on Memorial Day weekend. Love this hike, highly recommend