Our family hiked the Mailbox Trail on July 17th, 2022. We took the steeper, old trail up and came back down on the longer, gentler new trail with switchbacks. Unfortunately, this day was not the best for hiking – it was overcast with low visibility at the summit. The shorter trail up was quite challenging and had lots of tree roots we had to step over. Half a mile from the summit, the trail winds through a talus field, which is very well-marked and surprisingly manageable. We saw many people coming back using the old trail, but I would not recommend using that trail on return (the longer trail is definitely easier on the knees!). There are two bridges on the new trail and good visual landmarks to estimate the distance. Once you cross the second bridge on the way back, the parking lot is less than a mile away. Happy hiking!