[smokeydon]

For those of you like me, who have not been up to this area in a while I just thought I would let you know the permit system has changed. Last time I came up here it was self registration at the TH. Now it is by reservation only between May 1st and Sept 30th and permits must be aquired from a ranger station. With that being said, it is evident why they made the change, there were people everywhere. The trail is completely brushed out and snowfree all the way to the upper basin. As was stated in some trail talk of the Olymics on this site, it was almost a bug-free environment. I took route 4 (in the Olympics climbing guide) up and took route 5 down. Right now with current conditions route 5 would be preferable because of sloid snow cover. Route 4 got a little nasty towards the top where the snow faded out and a lot of loose rock had to be climbed. The book says class 2 to the ridge and a class 3 gully but it sure seemed like class 3 to the ridge and a class 4 gulley. I think all the loose rock made it seem worse than it really was. I saw several large rockfalls on the slopes during my ascent and was even responsible for one small one. Groups would be advised to stay close together and bring helmets. This is definitely a peak I would not want to do without the advantage of snowcover. On the way down I took the gulley instead due to consistant snow cover. The very top was extreemly steep and the snow a little hard, but not icey. The slope melowed out after a couple hundred feet but then a 10 foot cliff had to be negotiated to continue. It required one class 5 move and then it was smooth sailing all the way down. 4 hours to summit, 3 hours back.