Parking lot emptied out quick at 2pm when I arrived. Trail gets flooded and/or is an active flowing creek in a lot of areas. Bring waterproof shoes. I had poles but no spikes. Spikes may have been helpful but not necessary, as the snow started around 3,500 ft, right at the Olallie MTB intersection. No views on Monday, was in the clouds, but no precipitation.

Great hike to get some exercise if you're not looking for views. The waterfalls are plentiful throughout the trail, but the rocky and flooded trail didn't make me want to repeat it anytime soon.

This was plan B or maybe even C for me today but it worked out great (except for being a bit underprepared for the rain).  As others have described, it’s a rocky and steep first two or so miles. Miles 2-3 level off a bit. Lots of water on the trail but waterproof footwear and poles worked well.  All of the stream crossings are manageable.  Only a few people on the trail and the parking lot probably never had more than 10 cars.  

Encountered snow around 3400 - easy to hike across with spikes. Ended up turning around about 3.5 miles up, a bit past the Olallie trail intersection, because puppy and I were pretty drenched. Would have powered through with a few waterproof (instead of water resistant) items. Like a coat for instance (not my finest moment).  

Will be back to get to the top.  

Arrived at the trailhead around 8:45 am with plenty of available parking remaining in the lot. The road to the lot is a short gravel road with one pothole (which I was able to navigate easily in my low clearance Prius).

The first part of the hike was great, lots of rocks and water on the trail with sections that were pretty steep. A little more than half way you cross a stream that has taken over the trail pretty completely but is easily passable. Continuing another mile (or less) you run into another pretty wet section of the trail that seems to be mostly snow melt. I ended up walking straight through this and having no issues crossing a deeper section on rocks with my poles for balance. I would definitely recommend waterproof footwear for this hike.

As other trail reports have stated, about two thirds of the way up you begin to run into snow on the trail. I immediately put my micro spikes on while my partner held out (but not for long). The snow is pretty consistent all the way up and some parts are beginning to get very slushy. I post holed a few times and parts of the snow pack do get very narrow in sections. 

We unfortunately didn’t have much of a view at the top, but this was a great hike that is both challenging and doable if you have the correct equipment.

Lots of trip reports for this one, but I'd like to emphasize that this is a rocky trail.  My friend Julie loves this trail, and she knows I don't like rocky trails, but I couldn't say no to an outing with her.  So I powered up that rocky steep trail wearing my thick socks, waterproof boots, and hiking poles.  If you have tender tootsies like I do you might want to skip this hike!  

We had lunch at the spot where the trail is covered with snow.  There are some good sittin' rocks there.  I brought yaktrax but no gaiters, and Julie brought gaiters but forgot her yaktrax.  So we turned around.

Trilliums are just getting started.  Lots of fern fiddles.  Some bleeding hearts and some really pretty purple flowers.  Anyone know what these are called?  

Arrived at the TH around 12:45pm. Trailhead parking lot was full, but plenty of parking a short walk away on the street. TH bathroom open and stocked.

The trail becomes snow covered somewhere between halfway and two-thirds to the top. Before that, the trail is often very wet with running water over the trail in place. Not very muddy though, thanks to how rocky the trail is. Fine in waterproof boots. I definitely would not want to attempt it without. Only a couple insignificant blowdowns.

Once the snow begins it is fairly consistent, with just a handful of melted-out sections. Even late in the day it was firm enough that microspikes were fine. Very little postholing--no need for snowshoes. Some of the going is getting tricky, with the bootpath getting narrow with a big drop off of the snow bank on the downhill side.

There is a super aggressive bird at the summit trying to steal lunches. Please don't feed them! It's not good for them.

We returned to the TH around 6:15pm. Give yourself more time than the distance and the elevation suggest. This trail is rockier than most in this area, so the going is a lot slower than you are probably used to.