Trail was well maintained and not too difficult. There was a downed tree halfway up the trail though.

Went in the morning around 11am and the first half involved a lot of elevation gain and rocks you needed to step on, but the 2nd half was okay. once you get near the top you will reach a resting point (not the summit, but really close to it) and just 7 minutes ahead is the summit where people paraglide off it and rest. For me there were a very small amount of bugs, and no snow, although it started to lightly rain a bit but didn't affect much other than the muddy floor so pack an extra pair of footwear.

Got to the trailhead ~6:15 AM. There were only a handful of cars. Be mindful of a sizable pot hole when entering the parking lot.

I started in the dark, and the trail is overall good condition. I hiked to the south lookout, the section just before the top. Rainier wasn’t visible, and the lookout was above the cloud line. The sunrise in the area was at 7:55 AM. However, the sun did not make an appearance up top until later.

I headed down the trail around 8 AM, and noticed the sun peaking through around 8:30.

There are some new trees and such down/uprooted along the trail since the bomb cyclone. However, there are packed trail around them all and are easy to navigate.

Mushrooms: Red-Belted Conk, Sulphur Tuft and another unidentified white cluster.

Animals: American Robins and Chipmunks

Stats to Upper South facing view and back (not very top): 3.6 miles and 1,476 feet

The trail was muddy. It was snow-free. The view on top was spectacular. It was worth the mud walk 😊

Couldn’t decide whether to do a West Tiger peak from the High Point trailhead or Poo Poo Point via the Chirico trailhead. Google maps was telling me that both trailheads were busier than usual, understandably so being NYE (farewell 2024). Went with an option that was less busy and geographically located in between by taking the High School Trail to Poo Poo Point. The trail was muddy but cleared and maintained the entire way. This route also offers beautiful running creeks and streams this time of year and uses foot bridges to make water crossings. There are a few options of where to start around the high school area, but the hike length will be over 7 miles and over 1900ft of elevation gain according to my recordings. Trash receptacles and toilets were available up at PPP. At the top I did a lollipop loop including the top portion of the Chirico Trail (for views of Mt Rainier), PPP Trail, and Chirico Point dirt road.