[Ank L. Turner]

Of all the signed trails you have hiked in WA, what gets your vote as the steepest, rootiest, rockiest, swampiest trail of all???

[MCaver]

Marten Creek, off the Mountain Loop Highway. Three miles of washouts, mud and devils club, and not a single decent view the entire way.

[Hiker Boy]

Church Mountain

[polarbear]

Where is Church Mtn and why does it deserve this status?

[Randy]

The popular ones, generally. The Tiger Montain cable line route is horrible (okay maybe this one shouldn't count) and so is most of the trail up to Mailbox Peak. The most continuous section of super-steep trail that I know of has to be the one to the top of the ridge above Green Ridge Lake. It's a sweetheart trail though with few ugly obstacles or annoying root steps.

[Randy]

But....if you want to know the trail I hate the most it's the trail to Pete Frickin' Lake! Ahh! I can't stand this trail. 5+ miles of flat, no-view walking and it seemingly takes FOREVER to get anywhere. It's especially fiendish at 12:30 AM after you've already put in 21 miles 5 of which were on the same gawd-awful trail! Okay, I'm done...

[Bushwacker]

Sunrise Mine/Headlee Pass trail. Muddy, rooty, boring! Not much to see. Then when you break out into the open....Up the snow field to the fun traverse across the boulder field swarming with bugs to get to the fairly steep and rocky switchbacks up to the pass. Throw in some rain and it all added up to a special experience. BTW, Church Mt. is to the north of Baker. BW

[Karen]

Bedal Basin, Monte Cristo area Why: trail is brushy (over your head in places) and route-finding is a challenge (part of the route is up the creek). Even the rocks in the creek are out to get you -- they are are slippery as the slime-covered rocks on the coast at low tide. Karen

[Hiker Boy]

Church Mountain is about 5 miles east of Glacier on the Mt. Baker Hwy. It's a switchback hell and about 3800' gain.

[Backpacker Joe]

Found lake. 4000+ feet of elevation gain with no water! The road is washed out now and the only realistic way in is via Slide lake. Turbo bummer! TB

[MooseAndSquirrel]

Gothic Basin near Monte Cristo is steep, with scarce switchbacks and rocky. The bottom portion from the trailhead until it starts to climb has been improved upon in the past few years thankfully. I hate the descent on that trail- it's murder on your ankles. At least the scenery makes up for the pain. Goat Flats is kinda rooty in spots as I remember & some of those headland climbs along the Olympic coast can be muddy, slippery & steep- guess that's why they have ladders installed in spots.

[catwoman]

Bushwacker, I did Sunrise Mine/Headlee Pass a few years ago and found it anything but boring. I think it was the straw that had it in for my knees, but it was not boring at all. Awesome views - even from the parking lot.

[Bushwacker]

I stand corrected. Boring was a poor choice of words. I've never been bored on a hike. A lack of getting out is effecting my thought process. Missed the views at the pass due to bad weather. BW

[Alan Bauer]

Hands down the only trail I have hiked in my life that no money will get me to do again is the full length of Polallie Ridge to the old lookout site. Eight miles each way, and what kind of ridge hike is this...it never goes on the actual ridge when you might actually SEE something! It's all in forest, and every darn time you gain a high point and are 'almost on the ridge' the trail blasts DOWN 300-400' only to redo it again and again and again. Books think it's 2600' elevation from trailhead to lookout...but it's 5700' over the course of the 16 mile trip. There WERE two stunning meadows to hike along...but they were trail eaters and I was lost for 25 minutes trying to find a trail on the other side in the forest. Both meadows. Diamond Lake looks sort of pretty and would be an isolated camp site. The last 1/4 mile of the eight miles was STUNNING. But get that the easy way if you want it and hike the Randy-trail-to-hell Pete's Lake trail a bit and then up Tired Creek if you want those views a lot easier. So this entire trail was simply misery on a hot day for 40 minutes of views or much scenery at all. I'll stick to the flat trails when I want a forest hike like this

[JimK]

The old miners trails on the Mountain Loop Highway have taken a significant percent of picks so far. I'll add the old trail to Poodle Dog Pass to the list. 4 miles of road walking each way just to get to the trailhead. The "root" was straight up with slick rocks, mud, and big steps to crawl up. When wet the trail was a creek in spots. With Mountain bikes and the new longer but much nicer trail this one can be forgotten unless you are a bit of a masochist.