We arrived at 9 am, and parking lot was already pretty full. When we left at 12:30 pm the parking lot was at capacity. That being said, while hiking everyone did a great job social distancing and it wasn't crowded. Trail was pretty muddy, so be prepared to get dirty. Good, steady elevation gain throughout entire hike, with plenty of flatter parts to take it easy. Up towards the last stretch it does get a little more steep, but very manageable. Side note for those who would like to take extra precautions avoiding people: there is a wide gravel access road that will take you all the way to the top that is just as challenging as the trail.

My friend and I finally used the Trailhead Direct bus to do this traverse and it was a total delight! It's so nice to have a bus to rely on for transport, particularly when trying to do a thru-hike like this. 

We carried the King County Squak Mountain pdf map and my Green Trails map to supplement, and the intersections are all very well signed, so it was a great, stress-free hike. 

Margaret's Way is in great condition — very wide and easy to hike, though it certainly climbs quite a bit towards the top. Past the junction with Debbie's View, the trail gets much narrower, rocky and brushy. 

The trail to the Bullitt Fireplace is similarly narrow and brushy at first, though it eventually widens out and is easier to walk next to each other and talk. Phil's trail (Old Griz) was our favorite part of the hike; it's a great, rugged little trail that was much more fun to hike down than up (at least in my opinion). East Ridge had a couple of lovely little sections of open forest. By this time, the rain we'd had all day had let up and we had some nice sunlight for the end of our hike, which was great. 

We got off Squak in a neighborhood, as stated, and we were about a mile away from the Rogue Brewing, so we headed that way and had a snack and a beer before catching the Trailhead Direct bus back to Eastgate, where we'd gotten on.