Challenging yet excellent hike! I came here on Memorial Day around 9 am. Not too many people on the trail. The weather wasn’t that great. It was a little chilly with a some light rain and very cloudy. Elevation gain: 3950 ft Highest Point: 5760 ft Length: 8.6 miles round trip Time: 3 hours up. 2.5 hours down. Difficulty: Hard for me as a beginning hiker. I hiked with a group of friends and they have been hiking forever and they didn’t find this trail difficult at all. Road: Very straight forward and easy drive. It took about 1.5−2 hours coming from Seattle. The trail is located right off Mountain Loop Highway on the left side. No pot holes and off road of any sort. Parking: Lots of parking spaces in the parking lot. There are two outhouse toilets available. Trail: The trail is in excellent condition. Very nicely maintained. The beginning of the hike was probably the hardest part for me because the switchbacks seems never ending. For the first 2.5 miles or so, it consists of mainly moderate grade incline switchbacks(I counted about 50 – 55) through the forest. Some are very long. I marked the half-way point of the trail at the end of the series of switchbacks. You will then pass a very large rock formation on the side of the mountain along with some stream crossings. The trail opens up past the forest with some views of the nearby peaks. This part of the trail remains somewhat flat with some rocky steps for about 1 mile or so. This part was nice having to be able to catch my breath from the beginning of the hike. Then the trail then begins to get steep again with some more short switch backs and steps. About ½ mile from the top, there are some snow on the trail but nothing too hard to cross. The overall trail is pretty straight forward and not that bad. If I was in better shape, I don’t think it would have been so challenging. View: No view! It was so cloudy that there was no view what so ever! I was so disappointed because this was the most challenging hike that I have ever done and I couldn’t see anything! I will sure be back when it’s more clear. Bugs: None *Northwest Forest Pass required*
