Hiked the shorter version from Observation TH. Road to the trailhead is in good condition - some repairs happening on the paved section.

Lots of berries and blooms and no bugs! But also socked in so no views either. 

Very few pot holes on the road in. 
Privy at the trailhead was clean. 
The trail was pretty well maintained and peaceful. Saw some avalanche lilies and Columbia tiger lilies. 

We enjoyed a quick hike up to Observation Peak on a glorious Saturday morning, above the smoke in the Gorge.

The road up to the trailhead was paved and in great condition most of the way; the gravel road was in good shape too (with one notable exception).

There were only two cars when we arrived at the trailhead at ~0930.  

For the first mile or so, the trail wound its way through the burn zone (from 2023?).  The fireweed was taller than our heads and, in some places, obscured the trail.

The blueberries near the peak were delicious!  The huckleberries were getting close.

We hiked the Observation Peak Trail early this morning. Google maps lead us straight to the trail head so we were able to find it very easily. The road coming in from the west (we came over from I-5) was pretty rough in some spots (some deep potholes in the pavement), but I would say it's passable in most cars. I drove in with a Subaru Outback and it was a pretty easy drive. Just make sure to go slow over the larger potholes. Once we got to the gravel road, it was pretty smooth sailing from there - the gravel road was in better condition than the paved road (we thought that was hilarious). We showed up around 8:30am and were the only people there. We only saw one other couple on our way back down.

Once you get to the trailhead, there is a sign that points straight to the trail that makes it extremely hard to miss. Once on the trail, you will run into some overgrowth early on while walking through the burn area (see photo). This continues off and on for about the first 1/2 - 3/4 of a mile. Most of it seemed to be fireweed (super pretty flowers), so nothing itchy, but I was glad to have long sleeves and pants on. The rest of the trail was in great condition! Good enough incline to get your heart and lungs working but nothing too steep.

Pretty quickly into the trail, we also ran into annoying patches of bugs. This continued for most of the trail. The only real relief we got was at the summit. The wind was blowing just enough to keep them away, thank goodness, so we were able to enjoy a bug free snack time at the peak. I would definitely bring bug spray on this one. We came home with lots of itchy bug bites. 

Other than the little annoyances, this trail was great and the views at the summit were amazing (even on a cloudy/hazy day like we had). Even with the clouds, we were able to see Mt. St. Helens, Mt. Adams and Mt. Hood from the peak. I would love to come back on a clear day to see the full views!

Another little detail; our GPS clocked this hike at 5.4 miles total.

Observation Peak is on our annual list of hikes, particularly as we watch the recovery from the Big Hollow Fire in 2020. We hike from the north trailhead.

This year, the burned landscape was bursting with wildflowers, particularly the displays of Avalanche Lilies. Many other wildflower species are recovering and taking advantage of all the light to spread abundantly.

Once we crossed over the Sister Rocks ridge and started our descent to Big Hollow basin and Berry Camp, our focus changed from wildflowers to mosquitoes. 

This was our first mosquito-infested hike of the year! We encountered snow patches on and next to the trail, ephemeral springs running nearby, and lots of damp ground for mosquito breeding so the females were out in force looking for mammal blood. We stopped and quickly applied insect repellant, but the constant attention was annoying. A couple of photos I took on Observation Peak during our lunch break even captured mosquitoes on the wing!

We felt sorry for the Northwest Conservation Corps crew camped at Berry Camp for the week while they worked on remote trails in the Trapper Creek Wilderness that don't normally get much attention. A Forest Service trail crew from Trout Lake also was working on the Observation Trail doing brushing, restoring drains, and making tread repairs in the burned area.

We found lots more blooming wildflowers on Observation Peak, including Subalpine Mariposa Lily, Fine-toothed Penstemon, Scalloped Onion, Rock Penstemon and Heartleaf Buckwheat.

On our trip home, we stopped at dog-friendly Backwoods Brewing in Carson for dinner and hydration.