Pitter-patter, pitter-patter, the sound of light rain falling in the forest. No views on a cloudy day anyway and lots of solitude can be found after a very short drive from Seattle. I did the loop clockwise and the ascent was mostly gentle. Posting a trip report with #Gratitude to WTA and the PNW.

A great choice for a short exercise hike on a cloudy day.  A few spots left in the parking lot when we arrived at 8:30. Parking spilling onto SR 900 at 10:30. 

Reached trailhead at 8:50a and the parking lot was almost full. We followed WTA directions and did the trail in counter clockwise. We were very grateful that the Trail is mostly shaded considering it was very sunny today. Trail was very busy today with trail runners. Bugs are a little too bad towards the peak.

We left the parking lot at 8:00 a.m. and there was only one other car at the trailhead. We wanted to enjoy the trail before it reached the mid-90s today.  This was our first time for this hike and it was a delightful surprise.  The forest was cool and the large trees were such a treat to admire, in addition to the huge erratic boulders. The abundance of ferns seemed extra green and the bird songs were a sweet sound in the otherwise quiet of this hike.  We were pretty impressed that the road noise from Rte 900 does not last long and the forest was delightfully quiet.  We ran into only a few other hikers for the entire hike.  We went up the Gombu trail to the Wilderness Peak summit and enjoyed the lovely bench for our break and made our entry into the log book.  We came down the Whittaker Wilderness trail to create the loop as mentioned in the hike description.  Being our first time on this trail, we made a bit of a mistake after the Shy Bear trail sign and somehow walked right past the sign for the trail to return to the Whittaker Wilderness trailhead and instead initially started down the Long View Peak trail.  That didn't last long and we got back to the right trail to complete the loop as intended.  The Gombu trail is steeper and the Whittaker trail is pretty mellow until about the last mile or so when it becomes a little steeper.  We will definitely be back!

Great hike for a hot sunny day!  Lotsa elevation gain in the beginning but very shaded and good paths with tons of clear signage.  I would guess about 95% of the hike was partially to mostly shaded from the sun. Felt like a good workout on a hot summer day when I was otherwise considering avoiding the outside.  I wish I had remembered my hiking poles because it was a little tricky on the way down but doable.  Cute bridges and babbling brooks around the beginning of the hike and ripe berries as you go up :-)