Hi, responding to a trail report from August 7 by report author "I don't know everything" who noted and posted a picture of a lost two tone green long sleeved shirt hanging on a branch at elevation 2770 (I think at about Owl Spot Lookout). We think this may be my husbands but we aren't going to be able to get back there for quite a while. If someone is hiking this and can grab the shirt and bring it down that would be amazing, text two zero six-859-eight zero two six and we will try to retrieve it. THANK YOU!

We arrived at 9:00 a.m. on a Tuesday and there was one other car in the parking lot.  The trail was in good condition per the trail guide and other comments, with a few brushy spots up high. I was glad that I took the advice of the commenter below and brought poles because the trail is rocky and it's mostly downhill coming home. There was a bumper crop of berries with many very plump salmonberries. We hit the trifecta in some spots with salmonberries, thimbleberries, and blueberries. On the gravel road on the way out we talked to a group of teenagers who were going in to look for the cave. I hope that they were not disappointed. Other than those folks and one other lone hiker, we had the trail to ourselves 

A rough and somewhat overgrown trail with a great Rainier view payoff at the top.

Chose this for a shady and less busy trail option on a warm Sunday. There were 6 cars ahead of me in the lot at 7:30am and the lot was full when I came back down four hours later with cars parallel parked opposite the head-in parking making pulling out a bit tricky. The gravel road to the parking is very short and has only a few trivial bumps.

The trail felt harder than its stats suggest. The tread is quite rough and often consists of loose rock. A quarter of the trail felt like walking up a dry creek bed. There are few sections that have significant vegetation encroaching, the worst coming immediately after the big open rock slide section. I put sunglasses on fairly early in the trail just to protect my eyes from all the branches.

There are some wildflowers blooming sporadically throughout the hike, with foxglove in many places and more variety higher up. There were some bugs causing minimal annoyance along the whole trail and quite a few mosquitoes causing significant annoyance at the top.

Well maintained trail with great views at the top.

I recommend poles because the loose gravel on the trail can be tricky going down.

Make sure you have a map that you can use - the signs are blank/washed out at junctions.

First time hiking up Mount Washington, and it did not disappoint! If you are looking for a hike with decent elevation gain *away from the crowds*, this hike fits the bill! I arrived to the trailhead around 9am on a sunny Sunday, and there was still plenty of parking available. Saw some people here and there but had the rocky perch just before the summit allll to myself for about a solid half hour once up there. Could have been longer, but I decided to head back down. 

Most of the strenuous elevation climbs happen in the first half of the hike, which is probably a good thing. As others have mentioned, it does have flat sections. But you have to climb first to reach them. Then there are more gradual inclines, but I would definitely say the steepest inclines happen earlier on in the hike.

Some of the sections on the trail are somewhat overgrown, but I was able to get through with just a tshirt and shorts. If that’s the sort of thing that bothers you, you might want long sleeves.

The views satiated my cravings just fine.