This is a really great hike with much less traffic than the more popular hikes in the surrounding region. There's an outcropping of rocks at the top to eat a snack and enjoy the view of Mt. Rainier to the south, and there's a small area about a hundred yards further were you can sit and take in Mount Si and Mailbox Peak to the North.
There's only one small section with snow on the trail, and we left the microspikes at home and just used trekking poles. The snowy section is so short and flat, and the snow is so minor at this point in the season, that you don't need either and will be fine with just good traction shoes.
We arrived at the trailhead on a sunny Saturday at 6:45am. There are some potholes on the road, but nothing that our 4Runner had any trouble with. There was only one other car with people sleeping in it. We hit the trail at 7am and got to the top at 9:30, climbing about 3200 feet over roughly 4.5 miles. We hung around and snacked on almonds and blueberries and chatted with folks arriving just behind us at the top for about half and hour.
It started getting a bit crowded up there, and there's not a ton of space at the top like on Mount Si, so we set off on our return hike at about 10am, reaching the car just before noon. The parking lot was very full by then, as this hike shares a parking lot with a few other hikes like Twin Falls.
My Garmin clocked the total trip at 9.2 miles in 4 hours and 45 minutes. I'll be coming back. I really loved this one.
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