Thwarted from a hike up Mt. Jupiter by the continued closure of the access road due to logging, headed up Buckhorn Mountain via the Upper Big Quilcene trail to show a friend the view. The advertised partly cloudy conditions never materialized, so the views were quite limited. Left the TH at 2500 ft at 8AM and reached the 6988 ft summit at 11AM. On the way, a break in the clouds at Marmot Pass (6000 ft) briefly revealed the Needles and Mt. Deception with new snow above about 6500 ft. As for trail conditions, someone has spent a lot of energy shaping up the trail a half mile or so east of Camp Mystery where fallen rock last winter had made crossing the rock slides a minor challenge. The trail across this section is in fine shape now. No snow yet on Buckhorn from Marmot Pass to the summit. Clouds socked in the summit the 40 minutes we were there, with a couple of brief breaks.
WARNING: there is some kind of high mountain deer hunting season in progress now. Wear bright clothing. Saw three parties of hunters roaming the high ridges with their deer rifles.
Two photos: One showing the east summit of Buckhorn from the slightly higher west summit, with wildflowers still in bloom at 6988 ft; the other looking west from the east summit.
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