Mount Rose

Spring has come to the lower elevations of the Olympic Mtns. We saw yellow violet in bloom on the lower Mount Rose Trail (6.4 miles when doing the loop at the top, with 3,500 ft of elevation gain.

A deer on the lower part of the trail.

We didn't encounter snow on the trail until we passed the loop junction. We took the shorter trail on the left up Mount Rose
The snow was well packed and we were able to hike with micro spikes.
Large cat prints in the snow.

There were some icicles higher up the trail.

Nice view of Mt Washington and Mt Elinor as we neared the view area over Lake Cushman.









Copper Mtn from the same area.

We took a lunch break off trail from the view area over Lake Cushman below. We could barely see Mt Rainier due to the haze beyond Lake Cushman.

Last bit up towards the top of Mount Rose is quite steep.

Some of the trail was exposed dirt and rock near the top.















Looking over Lake Cushman from further up the trail.












View of Mt Washington and Mt Elinor through the trees near the top.

Pano from the rocky outcropping that is the top of Mount Rose, looking mainly west over Lake Cushman and some of the southern Olympic Peaks.

We continued along the ridge of Mount Rose following the loop clockwise.
The occasional views of some of the nearby peaks were through the trees, here: Copper Mtn.

The trail stays up along the ridge as it goes eastward (Mt Washington and Mt Elinor between the trees)

Then the trail descends down through the forest.

One of the creek crossings went over the trail as we neared the loop junction.

Even in the forest, we enjoyed todays sunlight!