We took Ed's trail to just beyond the rock arch where we hit considerable snow. Not armed with and ice ax we backtracked went over the ridge, hooked up with the road and finished the last mile and half in the snow to what's left of the old lookout. It was a beautiful day and we had great views of St.Helens, Rainier, Adams, Hood and Jefferson. The wild flowers were starting to bloom, but still have a ways to go.

Four of us hiked from the trailhead parking area at the end of Forest Rd 4109 to ""Ed's trail"" then to the summit. Surprisingly, there was snow on several sections of Ed's Trail. 3 short segments of 50-75 feet were steep and a little exposed. We traversed these sections with some step kicking and self belay using basketless ski poles jammed deep into the snow. Sections of the road above about 4100' had snow but the walking was easy. Nice fields of avalanche lilies, some Glacier lilies and paintbrush but I think we were a week or two early for the best flowers.

Found: Metal walking staff at trailhead 9/25/00 - contact Jones_n_Allinger at hotmail to identify and claim. Lots of rocks ""kicked"" onto trail #180 roadbed by ""pioneers"" in 4xW and other off-road vehicles bypassing the barriers on the abandoned road. Mtn. biking would be a lot of taking your ""bike for a walk"" with the many boulder covered stretches of road (not due to 4xW-s). Encountered red-striped garter snake on short boulder-type scramble near end of Ed's Trail #180A. This is a great hiker route! Don't know as I'd feel all that comfortable on it if it was wet and soil areas soaked with water. Trail #180E still had a few huckleberries offering sweet treats to weary hikers. ---Allinger