Great hike, a challenging one, with quite a lot of climbing and switchbacks. Recommended to be in decent shape for this one. Lovely lake at the summit, some small patches of snow around up there. Bugs not bad at all, trail mostly good with a few giant blowdowns that could be negotiated with some planning. The creek near the bottom of the hike was best crossed in water shoes with poles — very very slippery rocks. Nice and refreshing though. Gorgeous view of Hood around the east edge of the ridgeline. Beautiful lilies (glacier?) near the top too. My watch clocked the roundtrip more like 10.5 miles.
Road to trail mostly paved except that last half mile which was generally fine for all vehicles. Broken auto glass at TH.
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