The road is a little rough the last several miles, but it’s doable. Limited parking, but it was not crowded at all. Only 3 other cars when I arrived Saturday at 9 am. No toilets, so come prepared to leave no trace. The trail is absolutely gorgeous right now with thousands of flowers in bloom. The bees were living their best lives this weekend. I had decent views of Mt Adams, Mt hood was partially obscured by clouds. The trail is a bit overgrown, so I was glad of my decision to wear pants. Yes- plenty of bugs, but I did not find them to be bothersome. Did not wear any repellent. There is not really anywhere to filter water, so pack enough according to your needs.

Section H - WA PCT in Southwest WA. 21.4m, 3,244’ elevation

PCT SOBO - Crest Camp to FR68. The road to the TH was in great shape. Some potholes after the pavement ends but nothing major. The trail coming out of crest camp edges along a large lava field - it’s hard to capture with photos. Interesting area! There are a few camp sites between the TH and the saddle just below Big Huckleberry Mtn. There is a primo camp site at the saddle below BHM with an amazing view of Mt Adams. The forest to the south of BHM is super amazing - lush and full of flowers. Bear grass was blooming throughout the hike, along with lupine and arrowhead balsam root. There are a few view points of Mt Hood further south before the turn around point at FR68.

We headed down to the gorge for some snow free backpacking for memorial day weekend. Started at grassy knoll trailhead up to the knoll and then on to big huckleberry mountain. Plenty of flowers line the trail - paintbrush, balsamroot, phlox, trillium, avalanche lily etc. A few blowdowns but nothing wild. 

The first views of Adams are near "point 3603" and continue - sometimes of Hood, sometimes Adams, sometimes just of meadows - all the way until you reach 3800' about 0.4 from "cold spring" on the USPS map. This section of the trail is the best part. After that, you dip back into the deep woods - the trail sees less use from there on out and has some debris- all the way until the very top of huckleberry.

We panicked a bit when we could not locate the "cold spring" - we found the camping area but no water nearby at all - even looking downhill off the trail. Luckily we did find a good sized streamlet just under a mile beyond the supposed spring, at 45.84325, -121-7789. I am unsure how long this runs for but is going good now. 

Filled up here and hoofed all the water we'd need for dinner and breakfast up to the top of big huckleberry. There are two nice impacted spots near where the fire lookout used to be, as well as two that are further east - one with a killer peekaboo of Hood and the other tucked in the trees. 

You can't really see Adams from the top due to the trees having grown quite tall, but there are good views of Hood.

Overall, not a bad early season overnight option, but I'd be wary of the water situation later in the season. 

We went to Grassy Knoll trailhead this morning and the road conditions review was so accurate. Massive potholes on the way there, highly recommended to have a high clearance vehicle. You'll have to off road for about an hour because of the rough condition. We passed two cars on the way up, I guess they went in bright and early and had already finished the hike. 

Trailhead only had one other car, parking was easy. The hike itself was very nice, weather was good, a bit windy though. We found out about this trail after reading an article about the spectacular wildflowers here however, we felt it was a bit disappointing. Maybe because it's too early in the season? About a mile and a half in, we began to see Trilliums and Yellow lilies which was very beautiful, so we kept going. Amazing views of Mt. Adams  along the way after the first mile.

The wildflower point that all trails had marked on the map was a total disappointment. There were many fallen trees on the trail and some ice pack which we had to cross. I think the flowers hadn't  bloomed yet? In short, There are no flowers past the 2 mile mark (mountain viewpoint, you can see Mt. Hood here and some pretty daffodils).

We went up to mile 3.5 and decided to turn around as there weren't any more flowers. Definitely had fun hiking there though! 

The road isn't too bad, several trees have fallen on the road but you can drive around them. Several pot holes on the road but I was fine in my Volvo station wagon and there was a Prius behind me that also had no issues. 

The trail itself has several trees that have fallen on it but you can climb over them pretty easily. There is still snow on the trail that, of course, gets worse the higher you climb. In order to get to the grassy knoll you need to cross a pretty steep snow field that I was glad I had crampons for but it's probably manageable with out them. The knoll is clear of snow but after the grassy knoll it's basically a solid snow field. In order to get close to the top of the mountain I think snow shoes are a must, I tried to keep going but I kept punching through the snow.

Pretty great views, mostly obstructed by clouds for me, and no wild flowers blooming yet. 

Overall fun but challenging trail and I'm looking forward to going back either when the snow is melted or with snow shoes!