Great Spring Conditioning Hike in the Olympic National Forest about 2 miles before the Staircase entrance to Olympic National Park. There are views and the trail is accessible when many of the taller peaks are covered deep in snow. The hike up is 3,500 ft elevation in 3 miles.
The trailhead is across the road from Lake Cushman.
Before all the snow melts off the top of Mount Rose there are some streams with small waterfalls.
Most of the steep trail up is in the cool forest.
At 1.8 miles we've climbed 2150 ft, the trail splits making a circular loop around the summit.
We took the more direct trail to the top on the left.
0.25 miles up the trail we ran into snow, it wasn't deep, we didn't need snowshoes.
The way up was marked with orange ties on the trees.
On the top in the open sun, the snow had melted away.
A short distance before the true summit is a large rock outcropping with a gorgeous view of Lake Cushman extending towards Hood Canal. We could see the Cascade Mountains in the far distance.
Soon we were at the true summit, which is on the southwest edge. Great spot for a lunch break.
We saw the north end of Lake Cushman
and the Olympic Mountains to the west.
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