I have had this trail on my todo list ever since I first read about it on WTA.org 4 years ago and it definitely did not dissapoint at all, it was a gruelling trail, but it is doable likely because of the views.
I thought the first two miles of the trail were pretty steep, but the wildflowers that were blooming made for ample time to stop and take a break. Incredible fields of Lupines. After 2 miles the trail gets even more steep and it is grind, however right about the same time it starts to get real steep you start to get views of the Stuart Range (Enchantments) and those views are breathtaking all of the way to the top. The views are incredible the whole way because there is no cover as there must have been a forest fire some years back that cleared out the cover of the entire trail. We started at 9am, starting a little earlier would have been better, but luckily we hit the steepest part when it was still cool.
The last mile or so is completely covered in snow. I put "Could be difficult" for the snow because if you don't have microspikes (I didn't) I slipped a few times and just decided to slide because I was worried I'd fall down and just end up sliding anyway (on the way down). I didn't use the metal bars in the rock at the very end to climb up onto the rock, the view was nice just below that and that was too scary for me. I have bad knees, but on the way down it was pretty knee friendly because of how well-maintained the trail is even in the steepest parts.
This trail is extremely hot, reapply sun screen a lot and take twice as much water as you think you need. I can't imagine doing this trail once the weather in Leavenworth starts exceeding 80 and 90 degrees, but with every passing day there will be less snow to deal with.
Honestly the views after the first 2.5 miles are really worth it and there isn't any shame in turning around before the summit, though the summit does give you 360 views that are breath taking. I am not sure I could actually do justice with how beautiful this hike is especially when the wildflowers are in bloom as they were Saturday.
WTA says 4370 feet of elevation gain and I am not sure if that is because they don't include the last part to the lookout, but our Garmin clocked in at 4800 (2200 ft ele at the parking lot, just over 7000 at the top) And about 11.5 miles round trip total.
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