What to bring:
- Thick soled hiking shoes/boots - the path is mostly rock.
- Water - there is none on the trail - everything has dried up.
- Sun Protection - 2/3 of trail is full sun.
- A good GPS navigation device -there is a couple opportunities to go the wrong way on this trail
- WTA trail description, which was helpful for navigating
When to go:
- Anytime there is clear skies as this hike is all about the 360 degree view
- Weekends are OK since this trail is low volume for Snoqualmie Pass. I hiked on a Sunday morning and had 25 minutes on summit to myself.
- When you don’t have high clearance or AWD
Arrived at trailhead Sunday morning at 9:30 a.m.. Road was in good shape, mostly nice gravel but aa few locations what I had to be careful due to sharp rocks. I parked on road 0.10 miles below start of trail (PCT intersection) as road suddenly became very rocky and I forgot my NW Forest Pass in other vehicle and did not want to get a ticket at formal trailhead.
Trail is rocky and rooty, both on PCT and ascending mountain so real glad I did not use my trail runners. There is no signage whatsoever, so I kept referring to my GPS and the WTA trail description that I downloaded, which was really helpful.
I hiked casually, arriving at summit in 2.5 hours, spent 30 minutes at summit and 1.5 hours back to car.I did however miss turnoff off the PCT, which cost me 15-20 minutes or so. Take a look at my picture of the intersection so you recognize it as there is no sign and it is not obvious.
I crossed several PCT through hikers on way to turnoff to silver peak, and only crossed 3 others on my way to summit. Saw about 20 folks on my return down starting at 12:30, which is not bad at all for Snoqualmie pass on a summer weekend.
Beautiful 360 degree views at top, earning the 4.5 stars. Only bummer at top was thousands of flies. They left me alone as long as I did not get too close.
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