Mount Rose 7/6/2019

Lisa's entry--

We decided to tackle Mount Rose on Saturday 7/6/19. We left olympia around 730am and arrived at the trailhead around 845am.The trailhead is very easy to find, clearly marked and the roads out there are taken well care of so no dodging giant, Subaru eating potholes. Happy to report there's a restroom to use before you get started as well. When we arrived there were 5 cars total in the small parking area. We saw a pair of trailrunners (ohhhh y'all are CRAZY!) start off as we were gearing up. You go over a nice little bridge and waterfall area before you get to the real start and then....it's time to climb!

Once you reach the summit loop (around 1.95 miles in) you have two options. You can go to the left and do some hardcore steep climbing or you can go to the right where you will still climb but it's a little more friendly on the legs. We chose to get the big stuff out of the way so we could go easier on the downhill. We hit the summit around mile 3. Sadly there was a lot of fog so we didn't get the epic view we'd normally get. Still gorgeous. It gets cold fast up there especially when you are drenched with sweat from climbing. I was happy I had a sweat shirt but we both had frozen hands by the time we finished our lunch. Be warned that there is a gang of chunky birds who will try to steal your tasty snacks! One actually flew at my hand to try to snatch my PBJ! Not cool! 

On the way down we saw tons of wildflowers. SO pretty! Lots of old fallen trees in the forest but anything blocking the trail had been cut in two which was awesome. I thought the fallen trees and light fog gave everything an otherworldly sort of feel. I can tell you that we were both VERY happy to have our hiking poles with us. The downhill was brutal on my old lady knees! 

The total hike was around 6.4 miles and took us 5 hours with stops for lunch, water, a snack and tending to a hot spot on the kid's foot. 

Lisa ratings-- 

Overall 4.5 out of 5 

Accessibility 5 out of 5 So easy to find and no road issues 

Trail Upkeep 5 out of 5 Really well maintained and marked! 

Payoff  4 out of 5 (not really anyone's fault it was foggy but it def was a bummer) 

Level of Effort 4.5 out of 5 this was def a hard hike! 

Cooper's review--

Overall - 4.5 of 5 stars
Effort - 4 stars
Make sure to prepare for this hike, very thoroughly.  The entire first half where you are climbing to the summit is effectively straight uphill.  Pack lots and lots of water with you, because you are going to need it.

Payoff - 3.5 stars
When you can actually see the view through the fog covering the peak, it is very pretty.  There are also sections during the grueling uphill that show a fabulous view of Lake Cushman, but it would be better if you could see at the peak. 

Accessibility - 5 stars 
Not much to say here, but my moms Subaru had almost no trouble getting to the trail head. 

Maintained - 5 stars
The trail is very easy to hike, and we could tell by walking through it that the trail is very well maintained.  

I am ecstatic we picked this trail to hike.