This hike is straight up! Quite difficut. A real lung buster. Three and one half miles of a narrow almost non existant trail. Good thing the reward is sweet as you reach the top. The views are endless and solitude is a sure thing.

There is little snow until about 1/4 mile from the end. Trail is pretty good shape, considering the elevation gain (i.e. no blowdowns or other problems). Ice axe optional, I didn't feel the need for one.

Boy, it is sure nice to have Mondays off. No cars at the trailhead by noon. Only saw 3 people during my descent. Had sun almost all day, but it was rather hot on top. Almost no snow remains. You can leave your ice axe at home next weekend.

Nice warm sunny day and trail to Bandera mountain in good condition. There are a few patches of snow before the ridge and the entire ridge was covered with snow up to the peak, but I only used my ice axe because I had it, not because it was essential. Views from the top were a little disappointing, since even though it was a cloudless day, there was quite a bit of haze. Only a tiny bit of Mt. Rainier was visible! Coming down the big snow patch, the snpw softness and steepness were perfect for snow surfing, where I actually got a wave of snow (a miniature avalanche I guess) that basically carried me to the bottom of the hill. The hike took one and a half hours up, one hour down, so quite doable for a half day hike if you need to work as I did. Several times I heard the distinctive call of the male blue grouse but I never actually see the buggers. I also saw two snakes, a fairly rare occurrence on hikes in the Cascades. Only 5 other hikers on the trail. Michael

The Alpine Lakes - The trail up to Mason Lake has snow starting about1/3 to 1/2 the way up. Much of it is in that in-betweenstage where snowshoes aren't needed, but you punchthrough in boots too often. It's solid snow soon,and on this warm day quite slushy. But I got tohike in my shorts for the first time this year. Good thing Ihad my sunglasses on, too! Having just read the webmeister's hint on how toimprovise gaitors with rolled-down socks and pulled-down thermal pants,I managed to keep relatively dry feet. Mason L. is99% covered in snow (just the outlet is thawed), andsome brave souls had walked across it. I continuedpast little Mason L., and on up to Mt. Defiance.Perfect day, little wind and views from Baker to Adams.The slopes were avanlanche-prone, but the route to thetop is fairly well protected most of the way.