[lookout bob]

My wife had an unexpected day off so we conferred briefly and set out. A quick drive down to Chinook Pass and parking right at the PCT bridge over 410. A guy there asked me about Kelly Butte!!! and we set off. The flowers are past peak but the pasqueflower seed heads are shaggy and lovely and there's still lots of lupine, monkey flower ( in the wet places) tolmie saxifrage and other players.

An odd mushroom caught my eye near one of the tarns

The smoke was thick and on the drive down we couldn't see Mount Rainier until shortly after the White River/ Sunrise turnoff. Even on the trail the mountain was just a dim ghost.

Dewey Lakes looked attractive from the overlook but the smoke wasn't pleasant enough to induce us down so we stayed on the loop.

This WTA person noted that the whole trail needs lots of attention with culverts exposed, rocks in the trail everywhere, and eroded check steps especially on the Rainier side. Wonder if the park ever maintains this incredibly busy trail. Looks like there's still a few more weeks of flowers left if you want to get an easy 4.5 miles in here. I wonder too why there isn't a trail next to the highway for the last .3 mile connector of the loop. Highway walking sucks.