Did this hike on a sunny and warm Monday.  The temperature at the summit was near 80 degrees F.  The entire hike including one hour of Zen sitting at the top was 5 hours and 15 minutes.  I started the hike at 9:30 and was the first on the trail that day as verified by cobwebs across the trail.  There are a few trees down on the trial but were very easy to navigate around.  Bugs at the top were a bit bad but I found a breeze and cool air from sitting in a slight saddle next to a snow patch kept them at bay along with a bug head net and a long sleeve shirt.  The views were spectacular.  A very large 4 jet engine military plane flew from South to North between the peaks.  It was flying at an elevation 1,000 feet below the peak I was standing on.  The banking of the wings necessary to avoid hitting the mountains looked frightening at best.  The views were spectacular.  I could see smoke from a forest fire somewhere to the East and North of Glacier Peak.  I passed three separate couples coming up the trail on my way down.  The wild flowers seemed to be a good 3 or 4 weeks short of their peak.  I came across several grouse on the trail but no raptors soaring at the peak.  This is a great hike and my third time up this mountain in the past 10 years.  It is on my short list for a return visit in the coming years.

Mt. Scorpion Peak, which I visited for the first time in a while, did not disappoint. The weather was pleasantly cool, not hot, and although there were some fallen trees blocking the trail, they didn’t cause major problems. Wildflowers will likely bloom in abundance in about a week, and while there are a lot of blueberry bushes, there are no berries yet. There were some mosquitoes, and it’s expected that there will be quite a lot of them soon. Johnson Creek Road off Beckler Road had a few large potholes, but it was manageable. We didn’t encounter any other groups during the hike, so it felt like we had the whole mountain to ourselves. There were still some patches of snow at Mt. Scorpion Peak, and we didn’t stop by Joan Lake.

Overnight hike to Joan Lake. Two other cars at the parking lot both Tuesday and Wednesday.
The road is in good shape, with some holes, that can be avoided.
No bugs at all.
Fall foliage, mainly from bushes. it provides a nice contrast with evergreens, lake reflections, and mountain views.
A bit of snow falling Wednesday, but not sticking.

As other trip reports have noted, the road is passable to all vehicles but use caution on the last mile as you will need to skirt some decent potholes.

We arrived at the top of Scorpion Mountain when broken clouds began at a ceiling of about 7000 feet just above the summit. The weather put on a great show, with clouds scudding west just overhead with the prevailing wind then colliding with other clouds forming on rising easterly updrafts on the opposing hills.

Fall colors had not yet bloomed, with some of the numerous blueberry bushes (minus their blueberries) beginning to show color in their leaves. What was blooming, almost exploding, out of the forest duff were mushrooms—thousands of them. Some were the size of dinner plates and many still had hats of needle duff on their caps or were pushing slabs of duff up like trap doors.

Chimpunks, a flock of Gray Jays, a hawk shooting down a valley, swallows streaking over the top of Scorpion mountain, two larger raptors soaring on ridge updrafts and a pair of Ruffed Grouse using the road also put on a display.