The trail is smooth for the most part, covered with pine needles, gentle on the knees and ankles. The grade is not steep by steady. Most climb is to get to Gumjuwac Saddle, where 3 different trails and a road meet. Passed 2 trickles on the way. Brooke is super fast. She and her dog Jack were hiking back to meet the others when I approached the saddle. Too bad that I had to wait for the others at this viewless spot. I picked a sunny log to sit on and read my guide book. Continued on a flat grassy mile, and then zigzag up to the ridge, passed one more trickle (bigger than the previous two, but still a trickle), where the trail was muddy for ~5 steps. Just before the ridge, is the trail junction to Big Prairie trail. But I picked the viewing rock on the ridge to wait for the others. A bit rocky, but almost flat from here. You'll see two parallel trails, maybe 1/4 miles to the former lookout site, now only piles of rocks where people setup camps. Along the way, quite a few spots for campsite, but all small and no water. The straighter trail is all in the shade and no view, a bit of snow now. I chose to walk along the edge, no snow, and can pop out for a better SE view at anytime.
I setup my Uno chair in a spot where I could see 3 mountains simultaneously. If you walk around, you can see Jefferson to the south, Mt Hood up close to the east (where my 4 companions sat facing in this photo), and St Helen, Rainier and Adams to the north. 
Some golden larches and maples dotting the green forest below. Badger Lake is sparkling to the south. Low fog to the north, and desert to the east. Quite a few groups came and went, while we were having our leisurely lunch.Down as we came. Total about 10 miles, 3000'. Would be nice if we could loop around High Prairie, which would add ~2 miles with little elevation change. Back to Gateway ~4pm. All the way, we were discussing where to go in the winter months, and our pending travels. Priyanka dropped me off at home.
