Except for the summit, most of this hike is in the forest, where there were still more than a few reasonably fresh mushrooms growing - in mid-November!
The 192 was in generally good condition, except for a short piece (just before the bridge over upper Trapper Ck) where a set of boulders had simply collapsed, taking the trail with them. Easy to get past but sorry to see the trail damaged.
There seemed to be an unusual amount of water in all the creeks and the falls draining the W side of Observation also seemed pretty full for so late in the year.
I'd expected to see some snow, at least in the upper basin, but there was none at all on any of the trails or on Observation itself. What's interesting is that Indian Heaven, just 20 miles or so further E, has a nice blanket of snow. I had lunch on the summit, with a view of Hood and its lenticular,
but not of Adams (Sleeping Beauty (s) was just going into some clouds),
St Helens was half buried,
but I could just see Augspurger (1), Dog (2), Wind (3), and Defiance (4) rising out of the miasmas filling the Gorge.
After lunch it was down Trail 132 to the TH. The only people I saw all day were three hunters about three miles in on the 192. Classic hike (14.5 mi RT / 3,400' EG) on a sunny, warm, wind- and snow-free day.
