A sun and flower loving group of 11 Mountaineers hiked up 5 Mile Road and 4+ miles south on Tronsen Ridge to the high point (caltopo route is attached). A hiker informed us that all of the blowdowns were cleared at the southern end of the trail! We encountered no blowdowns. The trees and shrubs that were scratching up vehicles on 5 Mile Road have been cut back leaving a wide berth.  We saw about 12 motorcycles, all of the riders were very courteous.

If you want to see Tweedy's lewisia (photo 1) you need to get out here pretty soon, I'm guessing about 80% of it has passed. There are only a few bitterroots left, but lots of Columbian lewisia (photo 2). The flower season on the ridge is about 3 weeks ahead of average I would guess. These are the flowers that are out in large numbers or that have thick, showy patches: roses, lupine (photo 3), mountain arnica, prairie smoke, sitka and Wenatchee (!) valerian (photo 4, butterflies love valerian), multiple wild buckwheats, (beautiful, multi-colored) Chelan penstemon (some shrubby and yellow penstemon too), larkspur (photo 3), and Lyall's mariposa lilies. There was a flower every step of the way on the trail and I would guess 70 or 80-some species in bloom.

This is my first trip report - even though I am so appreciative of the many I've consulted over the years I've never felt I had anything to add except today I wanted to give a little navigational tip for anyone looking for this trailhead: the place to turn in and park (for the south trailhead) is not signed but is 0.9 miles from the Ken Wilcox Horse Camp sign, according to my odometer. I missed it and ended up driving several miles down rough road before realizing my mistake so I wanted to save anyone else this mis-adventure! One other navigational note: the official signage for the trail mentioned in the hike description seems to be missing (the small kiosk is there but there isn't anything on it) - the actual trail heads off down the hill to the right from that empty sign. Oh and yes, there are many, many, blowdowns to scramble over in the first mile or so, but I didn't mind that too much - it added to the adventure!

Besides that I will say that this was a stunningly beautiful place to hike, and I think this must be one of the best times of the year to do so - the sun was shining but the air temperature was still cool, and the variety of flowering plants was truly amazing. Besides the beautiful Tweedy's lewisia already mentioned, I think my favorite flower of the day was a Clematis, I think Clematis occidentalis - it was one of many flowers I have never seen before as I have hiked mostly on the west side of the Cascades.

As AlpsDayTripper mentioned, there are downed silver snags, but I found all easy to step or climb over and they only last for the 1st 0.20 mile from the trailhead proper.  To be clear, there's about 0.90 mile from where most people park (at Upper Naneum Meadows) of an intermittent jungle gym to navigate before having clear trail.  Beyond that, there's the occasional blowdown, also not difficult to navigate either over or around. I'm so glad I didn't let the previous report deter me from enjoying the bountiful wildflower show that Tronsen Ridge puts on every year.  I got a late start to the day so I only made it a little over 3 miles from my car to the top of the large rock outcropping.  The trail switchbacks here to cross below the outcrop and this is where I met my turn around time.  Of course the worst part of hiking Tronsen Ridge from the southern trailhead is having your return be all uphill; it can be brutal in afternoon sun but I was late enough in the day and the clouds were plentiful enough to keep me pretty well shaded.  My hike of around 6.5ish miles took around 6:00 as there was much lollygagging and picture snapping.  In addition to the plentiful Lewisia tweedyi that Tronsen is known for, there was also an abundance of Lewisia columbiana and the very beginning of what will be carpets of Lewisia rediviva.  They really should remane it Lewisia Ridge.  There was also a good showing of Delphinium lineapetalum as well as Valeriana columbiana, all species that tend to only be found in this small microclimate.  One of these days I'll have to see if Five Mile is really as bad as they say.

Arrived at the completely empty trailhead at around 10:30 AM on Memorial Day (Mon 5/29) The 2.5 mi forest road was rough and narrow, but doabale in a 4x4. I was excited to already see a bunch of wildflowers on the drive up. There was no trail marker, just a sign to pack in/pack out. Cell service out there was spotty, so I recommend downloading an offline map to make sure you're stopping in the right place.

The hike begins with a modest tree-covered climb, but very quickly rewards you by taking you through meadow after meadow of wildflowers. The flowers directly crowding the trail are abundant, but probably just starting to pass their peak. There are some pretty amazing pockets of flowers in their prime just a bit off the trail. I'd say they probably have another week or so. ~2 miles in is a quick scramble up to a viewpoint with great views of Mount Rainier and the snow-capped Enchantments. I stopped for lunch at the peak after the sign for the Red Hill Trail (2.5mi), turned around, and made it back to my car at 1:30 PM. We were the only ones there the entire time. Overall this is a super enjoyable and underrated hike.