My first hike on the Tyler Peak trail - given the descriptions I read, Tyler Peak trail is in pretty good shape - no blowdowns, snow is gone all the way to the lower saddle and otherwise pretty reasonable conditions. This said, Tyler Peak, as advertized, is pretty much straight up the side of the slope - its loose and broken scree until you reach the high meadow near the ridgeline - so footing requires good boots and one's attention On this day, weather was cool and forecast for some rain - on the way up, I had good viewing - once I reached the ridgeline, things "socked in" - the ridgeline heading up to Tyler Peak had snow, deeper as you went higher - within 100 feet of the peak I started postholing almost every step up to my waist - the weather also changed and snow/sleet had begun - no longer needing to "bag peaks" and knowing I was solo and on this trek for a "first", I decided I'd turn and head back down By the time I reached the lower saddle and the return trail, snow had begun to accumulate (good decision to "bag it") - this made for an interesting return trip - slippery trail most of the way down - used "sherpa shuffle" for the descent which went consideralby faster than the ascent (2 hours up to the lower saddle - less than an 1 hour back down) Good hike and an even better workout - I'd like to do this again with better weather and no snow up top Thanks to all those trail maintenance crew

Hiking the Gray Wolf ridge fascinated me since my trip to the top of Mount Townsend about a month ago. Once on the ridge line a hiker is able to easily access several walk-up peaks in a beautiful and relatively seldom visited area. This trail is very steep, nearly snow-free, minimally maintained, and worth the effort to ascend. My hike was a loop, up the Tyler Peak way trail, along the ridge to Mount Baldy, and back down the Maynard Burn Trail. Like others who been there, I recommend this direction over ascending the Maynard Burn because the Tyler Peak trail is much less steep. Finding the trailhead is easy. From Blyn simply turn left on Louella Road, left on Palo Alto Road, right on 2880, then follow signs to Tubal Cain. About 8 miles before Tubal Cain turn left on the road signed "Maynard Burn", travel about 3 miles down this road to a turn around where the trailhead is located. A washout reported in 2010 is fixed in the road is passable to all vehicles. My day on the trail began around 6:30. At the trail head I took the trail on the right up the Tyler Peak trail. The Tyler Peak trail is a way trail, reportedly created and maintained by local hunters needing a trail less steep than Maynard Burn to pack stock up to the ridge. This trail immediately begin climbing up a very steep hill without switchbacks on an off-camber tread. The first 3/4 or so is the steepest, consider this your price of admission and take your time, it will get better. Soon, the trail become much more level. Eventually, the trail opens up to a beautiful meadow between Tyler Peak and an un-named peak I'll call 6537. Peak 6537 serves as an intersection on this hike to both Mount Baldy and the Maynard Burn trail. At this point, there is no obvious trail in many places. Simply look up to the saddle on the ridgeline, and continue to walk up. I set a way point with my GPS at this location incase the clouds rolled in (which they did about 2 hours later). Hints of the trail will reemerge in a quarter mile, follow them to the saddle. Near the saddle, a way trail leading the Tyler Peak is on the right. After reaching the saddle, I rested for a short time on flat area just above the lowest part of the saddle. Rested and re-energized, I set-off south west toward peak 6537. The ridgeline between the saddle and 6537 was intermittently covered by hard pack snow. The trail seemed to disappear beneath the snow, so I simply followed the ridge to the top of 6357. By this time, the clouds had completely covered the mountain. Visibility was wavering between 500 feet and 1/4 mile. After another short rest, I continued on to Mount Baldy by descending the open ridge west of 6357 and Baldy. After a short steep section beyond the saddle, Baldy leveled out and I found its summit in the clouds. After waiting a while for the clouds to clear and only getting a few fleeting glimpses of Mount Gray Wolf (my goal for the day weather permitting) I decided to head back via the Maynard Burn Trail. Descending Baldy, I met the saddle between 6357 and Baldy, and took a right through some semi-open woods to 6357's south west ridge where I met the Maynard Burn trail. The Upper Maynard Burn trail is an older trail that follows 6357's southwest ridge to the park boundary. This trail does not seem as well maintained as the Tyler Peak way trail, is less scenic, and much steeper for a longer time then the Tyler Peak way trail. The first 1/4 mile along the ridge is not maintained and a hiker often needs to divert, jump over, and crawl under blowdowns to avoid snow and stay on the trail. After entering the forest the trail is easily to follow for some time. Eventually, any sign of a trail all but disappears in the open forest. At this point, just stay on the ridge and follow the USNPS Park Boundary signs until you regain the trail. After regaining the trail it becomes quite steep and stays this way until you reach the road. The trail from here on is well maintained and unlike the Tyler Peak trail, offers a level camber tread. After about 1.5 miles a road comes into sight, at this point a hiker can turn right and take the decommissioned road back to the trailhead, or take a steep shortcut to a lower point on the same road. I chose the shortcut and within a 1/4 mile rejoined the road where I turned left and was soon back at my car. This was a great hike. I will definitely be back again. I would recommend this hike only for strong, experienced hikers with some route finding and navigation skills. It's difficult to get to the top, but the reward is great and the views are incredible. I've included a rough trail map and a few photos for your reference. Enjoy!

Getting to this trail is a bit complicated. The first turn off of hwy 101 is on the west side of Sequim bay,a few miles east of Sequim. There is a sign directing you to the Dungeness trails down Louella rd.after about a mile you will reach a"t"in the road, turn left into Palo alto rd.follow signs for Dungeness trails (not Dungeness creek camp)at the next two forks then turn right onto a road signed "Trail 816" about 15 miles from hwy 101. The"trailhead"is at the end less than 1.5 miles past the fork. The trail to Tyler Peak is not on the Green Trails Map.It starts just past the turn-around on the right. The first mile and a half is mostly under canopy and is incredibly steep, with only a few short switch-backs along the way. After emerging from the trees the trail quickly fades into the open meadows, which are scattered with huge marmot holes. Ahead to the North is Tyler's Western ridge, from which the false summit can be seen to the Northwest(the real one is hiding just behind it). A small bootpath comes and goes but the way from here isn't at all difficult to find. The last push to the summit requires a bit of a light scramble, just enough for some good fun. The landscape stretches out below from Mt. Rainier to Mt. Baker to Canada. At 9:30 am a couple thousand foot high canopy of thick clouds covered everything east of Sequim. We retraced our steps and continued along the Western ridge, past several different types of volcanic rock before turning south toward Baldy. There is no clear trail between Tyler Peak and Gray Wolf Peak, just a faint bootpath that often dissapears for long stretches. The path goes all the way to a 6530' peak before turning West toward Baldy, and the going is easy enough to be worth the extra elevation gain. From here it's a simple walk to Baldy's summit which offers a splendid view of dozens of surrounding peaks including Mt Olympus to the SW and Mt Angeles to the NW, as well as Mt Townsend and Mt Mystery to the SE. I met 3 girls from Port Angeles who were scouting for a nearby tarn on their map. We needed to head back soon for a family reunion, but Gray Wolf Peak just over a mile to the south looked far too tempting to pass up, so I watered the dogs and took a few quick pics then hurried down the mountainside. I didn't take the time to look for a trail at this point, something i kind of regretted as my knees took a beating down the loose rocky south face of Baldy. Once we was over the small hill along the saddle, the tarn became visible down below to the NW. From the small meadow below Gray Wolf Peak, the rocks be come increasingly smaller, sharper, and looser. I pushed my legs to their limit as we gained 1000' of elevation over less than a half mile, and enjoyed a well-earn rest at the top. By this time the sky was nearly cloud-free, affording seemingly endless views in all directions. Two of the 3 girls i had met earlier joined me at the top and told me of a shorter return route along what they called the Mt Baldy Trail, south of Mueller Creek. Back at the small meadow they shared some cantalope with me and we traded trail descriptions, as they had seen the trail I took up to Tyler Peak but had never taken it. Their trail (which was on thier Custom Select map) picks up a few hundred feet down the NW ridge of the 6530' peak to the East of Baldy Summit. I found this trail to be practically identical to the Tyler Peak trail as far as distance and steepness. About 2 miles from the ridge the trail crosses a long overgrown road right before connecting with Trail 816. This trip covered about 10 miles