Up to current log.

2018 final report: 210 miles hiked, 85 400 feet ascent. 27 total hikes, 2 overnights. Rather light this year.

New trail seems fully ready for use, with lots of additional signage to get through the climbers maze. There are no signs past the balcony. As per the last visit, they seem to have torn up portions of the road above the balcony, presumably to improve drainage, but they've failed to install a bridge over the significant stream crossing near the gallery.

Snow started before the birdhouse, was a bit spotty in the woods before the balcony, but solid above that point. Overnight snow seemed to be 2" at that elevation and held to the gallery. All after that was 6--18" on the road.

There was no trail and any existing track had vanished. Snow was consistent at 18" of powder above 2800ft and I was breaking trail until 3800ft when I stopped. After taking some pictures, I planned to turn back (from exhaustion) but a cute guy caught up and said my steps were helping a great deal. As he went on ahead I decided to give it a try and found, indeed, it was 25% easier or better having an existing track to follow. I kept him in sight for a while, but above 4000ft there were some spots where the snow was waist deep even with a track, and I was exhausted from the earlier work, so I didn't see him again until the last 50m to the summit. He ignored my fishing, visibility was poor, and I wasn't willing to fire up any hot chocolate since rain was expected with each passing hour, so I too started to head back after only a couple of minutes.

Descent was hard on the feet (standard toe problems) even in some of the fluffy spots. Two more were ascending above 4300ft with no snowshoes, and I saw two more groups of two down near 3800ft that also lacked snowshoes. No one I chatted with expected more than a few inches. We all apologize for fouling the trail; since it's supposed to be 20--30F for the next couple days, our divots might freeze.

More crowds below the balcony, but no one was moving very quickly. I had zero energy during the entire trip, so it took forever to get to the balcony. Ascending the road was actually a bit easier, and I managed to maintain a fairly consistent, alas slow, pace.

Not bad for the end of the year.

pikae pictures

Kamikaze falls, Mt Teneriffe, Teneriffe road. Spikes used, no snowshoes needed at this time. :( Summit block has approximately 2ft of snow. There is no snowshoe track on any route yet. Teneriffe road had 1ft fairly constantly at the upper elevation, above the Mt Si junction.

I started late today because there was a fraternity of cackling hyena outside all night, starting around 23:45 and still going at 02:45. The strange wind conditions may have had something to do with it, but it sounded like a group of guys trying to get into a fight. I eventually turned on my noise generator, but in the end I didn't get up at 04:30 as planned and start my hike at 6am. Being this late, I was able to park in the new lot, which apparently opens at 7am and closes at 4pm. I started around 08:20, which is hardly enough time for some of the loops I've done in this area. I'll probably continue to park at the unofficial spot until they end up shutting that down.

I would say my ascent was "methodical". I wasn't really pushing myself that much so I kept to a fairly steady pace and maintainable heart rate. Part of this is being out of shape, but I also ended up being rather over-dressed and I didn't want to be soaked when I got to the summit. Overnight lows were forecast at 20F, with high winds returning to the area around 11am. At 5000ft, the forecast temperature throughout the day was only slightly above freezing. Instead, it was hovering around 50F below 4000ft, and wind at the summit was light with maybe 15mph gusts.

Starting after 8am, there were a few groups already on the trail. On large gaggle was primarily interested in talking, and I passed them while warm-up walking but still going almost twice as fast. They presumably went to the falls and turned around. After that group, I encounted only one couple and their dog descending from the falls, then saw no one until a solo hiker returning from the summit (up around 3500ft).

When I stopped to add gaiters and spikes, two groups caught up with me. They weren't generally going much faster because I stayed mostly in the middle (of the six total entities in those groups), and they were spread out over 250ft (elevation) going at different speeds. At that point, two and a half hours up, people generally aren't moving very quickly.

Reviewing numbers suggests that my ascent was at "the normal speed", perhaps slightly faster (than May 2018), but definitely slower than June 2017 and a bit slower than 2015. My left knee hurt after the falls (and maybe before), so I was concentrating on foot placement and alignment.

pikae pictures

New trail to Mt Washington, descent via Great Wall trail, with a stop at the lower road toward Change Peak. Return via the traditional Great Wall trail (through the woods).

Lots of runoff in the first mile, then a bit dryer approaching the owl. Main trail saw snow starting shortly after the owl, but no traction was needed on the ascent at this time of day. Packed snow above the lake. Footing only became sketchy on the final section above the road crossing. Descent was via the ridge/Great Wall, so gaiters were necessary (and spikes for descent footing, but I don't think they helped much). Perhaps 1ft of snow along the ridge road, and up to 2ft (or more with drifting) along the Great Wall and toward Change. Snow held all the way around to the Great Wall ascent trail in the woods.

Started about an hour before sunrise with the headlamp. Roughly 40F with the regular 20kt winds in the parking area, and some winds on the John Wayne trail, but much warmer in the woods. Wore shorts for most of the hike, namely until I put on the spikes and gaiters for the second/return part of the hike. Considerable descending cool air in the draws and along the streams, but I was mostly okay with light thermal uppers. Fingers were fairly cold in the leather hiking gloves, but I added the eVent mittens for the descent and everything dried out and was warm.

Single track of footprints appeared to have ascended and descended via the new Great Wall trail, but that was likely yesterday or before. There were no visible tracks at the lake junction toward the new trail when I went past in the morning, and no tracks descending through the woods. The track was perhaps the most maddening I have seen in the snow: The prints belonged to someone with very very narrow hips, because their feet were almost single file in places. Moreover, at times their feet were splayed almost 90deg apart (on flat spots), so the tracks were basically impossible to follow. For much of the Great Wall, I had to make my own trail as attempting the tracks was hurting my knees and feet quite considerably. They also were using poles (some of the time), so they may have been turning their body a great deal or "propelling" themselves, thus increasing the foot angle. In any case, they seem to have been "dragging" their left foot, or, at least, that was the foot most notably turned. Think Igor here.

I took my stove, water, and food to prepare, as I had intended to find a spot on the Change Peak road to stop and make lunch. Given there was more snow than expected, and that I found no area with a good wind shield that I liked, I decided to skip it and just keep walking. Indeed I had something labeled "2.5 servings", which seemed like too much food anyway since I only had another 90min of return hiking. Unfortunately I didn't think to Ziplock half of it beforehand.

pikae pictures

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Cable Line, WT3, WT2, TMT, K3, TMT, Cable Line.

Having woken up multiple times overnight, I finally woke up at 5am with no energy but arose to hydrate (including caffeine, the horror) and attempt to wake up enough to head out. After sitting on the couch for a tad, with my beverage, noting that I couldn't keep my eyes open nor move any of my limbs, I decided to go back to bed. I eventually awoke again at 7am and decided I could make due to a small bit of breakfast.

Sadly, it was not to be. My Thursday night meal depleted my energy reserves and left me with some minor GI issues . I stopped at the "Tradition Plateau" trailhead to lace up and visit the restrooms, but decided that the Cable Line trail would offer more options. Surprisingly, despite starting rather late, and despite the large numbers starting from Tradition TH, no one passed me on my ascent of Cable Line.

From a comparison, it seemed I made rather good time, only one minute slower than my record to WT3. In hindsight, I find that impressive given my general physical state. While hiking, I observed that my legs were working just fine, but otherwise that I had no general energy nor energy reserves. (Given that my nose and head were seemingly okay, I don't believe I had a cold, merely some food/energy problem.) I stopped for the usual sips of water, but didn't feel like eating anything, mostly focusing on not slipping on the large deciduous leaves covering the trail; they were slippery since it's been raining all week.

From WT3 I decided to continue to WT2, but on the way decided that it would be best to head back. I saw two people heading from WT2 to WT3 (unsurprisingly, there are usually a couple), and no one as I descended from WT2 via K3. A few groups were eastbound on the lower TMT east of Cable Line. I had to stop to deal with a pebble that managed to wedge itself against my left insole (scoopy boots, sheesh), and to tie around the problem on the top of my right foot.

Mt Si (new trail), Blowdown Mountain, Teneriffe Road, (Mt Si) Talus Loop

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The day started with a coyote running across the highway around 5:30am, 17mi out of town (in the city of Issaquah), in the darkness, right around a corner, between the cars, across the four lanes of highway. It was a dog-issues type of weekend indeed. At one point Saturday afternoon I started hearing someone calling their dog's name, despite it continuing down the bootpath toward my campsite. It eventually reached the water, to which I thought, "Well the dog wanted a drink see", after which, despite the continued calling, it proceeded to walk around and spread mud on everything I owned. I was playing with my camera at the time, so not exactly free to grab the dog by the collar, and it probably would have taken my hand off anyway, but eventually the owner retrieved it. Yet more cleaning for Brian.

Likewise, the remainder of the trip was... weird. The weather called for 65F Saturday with a small window of sprinkles after midnight. Instead, it was still smokey in places, and hazy and cloudy when the smoke cleared. Temperature ranged from 43F to 56F in the afternoon, depending on the total number of cloud layers overhead and the prevailing wind. It was warmer in the morning when I arrived, warmer after 6pm, and warmer still Sunday morning when I got up. Meanwhile, it started to sprinkle around 4:30pm. Particularly amusing was how it would sprinkle for 30sec every five or ten minutes. In the interim the wind would blow for a while and try to dry everything out, but fail. There was admittedly a slight reprieve from the the rain between 8:30pm and midnight, but it started back up and continued through Sunday morning.

Next weirdness: The Cascade Crest 100 Mile Marathon was being run this weekend, and they were running up the PCT, which goes directly past the lack (and my campsite). Knowing that it would be a busy weekend, I avoided some of the larger (and flatter) camp areas that are farther around the lake, back from the PCT, leaving them available for the arrival of families. Instead I found a nice little spot for one tent off the main trail with its own water access (all of eight feet away) and some protection from the wind. Later in the afternoon, after I had walked down the PCT a ways looking for a spot to read, I was chatting with some of the afternoon arrivals and a frequent trail volunteer (though not in this case) showed up and said that the marathon was happening and to expect runners starting shortly after 4pm. I heard the first pass around 4:30pm (I was in my tent reading at the time). Families, the volunteer, and friends, were clapping for the runners, so I had fair warning and stuck my head out of my tent to watch them pass. They were still running at 9pm (see the picture), and I still heard them around midnight. Some were walking, some were running. Obviously after dark they had headlamps; it possible the trail care stations provided the headlamps.

While I heard a number of parties near the lake in the midafternoon, there were very few groups that stuck around overnight. I expected things would have been full, but there were only around seven parties. There were five groups that I knew of, familes, myself, and a 70yo solo hiker doing the Washington sections of the PCT. At least two groups had fires going, which is reasonable given that each camp site had an obvious ring of rocks and recent evidence of fire, but which was unreasonable given the signs posted in the parking lots reminding everyone of the burn ban. Oh well, perhaps they were chilly.

I chatted with the PCT hiker later in the evening for a while. We talked about the trail, he asked about the next section (PCT WA J, which I did last year), we talked about cramping muscles and stretching and foot problem. Earlier, in the afternoon, there were about half a dozen through hikers; interested parties chatted with them a bit as well. Most knew that the last stretch into Canada was closed (due to fires), but there was disagreement about 30mi--80mi--120mi being closed.

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Strange route Saturday, full pack 34lb: Talapus, Olallie Lake, main trail around the lake and the ridge bootpath to the Pratt trail, south to the Pratt/Olallie junction, to the west end of the junction, off trail along the east side of the stream toward the mouth of Olallie. Viable spot for a tent discovered along the stream and set up for the day. Reduced weight, 25lb estimated: Olallie Lake main trail to the day use area, maint rail around the lake and the ridge boothpath to the Pratt trail (yes, again), ascent to the snowy wren spot and the saddle, ridge ascent toward Tusk of Granite (off trail through the woods with some visages of a goat path in places) and back, briefly west along the saddle to the boulders (lunch, not the Pratt boulders), return via the Pratt trail (brief jaunt up the snowy wren boulders for a picture), south to the Pratt/Olallie junction (again), the north on the Olallie main trail (see notes for reasoning here) to camp. Basic return Sunday, full pack 34lb: Olallie, Talapus.

Having a weekend aligned with a slight reprieve from the heat, it seemed an appropriate time to answer the question, Can my feet (injuries) sustain me for an overnight hike? Planning near 35lb for this weekend, I was concerned a bit about my feet, took quite a few combinations of insoles, had plenty of spare time, and decided on this location to permit shortening or lengthening the trip as seemed appropriate. The last attempts with weight were 30lb 0418 Dirty Harrys, 25lb 0414 Snoqualmie Pt, 40lb 0317 Ancient Lakes, with most being "successful", except that Ancient Lakes was an overnight and I had considerable difficulty in the last 1.5mi, increasing my concern for this weekend's overnight.

Given general performance, I likely could have made Pratt Lake Saturday, though I decided against it because I didn't want to deal with climbing out of that bowl Sunday morning. That was a good decision because it was already near 60F when I left, and targeting 80F or more for Sunday; that bowl would have been a furnace. The various jaunts around were enough to get more exercise, some more pictures, and made for a relaxing day.

I had hoped to find a shady spot and spend a good deal of time reading while eating lunch, but the right combination was not available. The ascent toward Tusk left things rather wet, having gone through some underbrush that still held overnight dew, so I dried out a bit on the boulders along the Pratt trail. Still needing to prepare water and hang the bear bag, and to avoid too much sun on the boulders, it seemed best to return to the tent and find a spot for lunch. Sadly the nearest boulders were perfectly positioned for a nice, shady seat for lunch... had I been half an hour earlier. As is, I managed to sit and rest my feet (very nice reclining spot in the boulders here) and eat for about ten minutes. Bugs were smart, staying mostly out of the sun, but were fairly bad in the shade. I took a picture of my new "cheese knife" (that's my story and I'm sticking to it, picture will be posted soon enough).

There's another section of new trail being constructed westbound off the Olallie main trail (though its destination I do not know; perhaps another route to the Talapus-Olallie trail?). Though it's taped off, a large boulder 30yd in was a good spot to continue lunch and start on the reading. Amusingly, many of the day hikers didn't even look my way. Sadly, there was still a good supply of bugs, though they seemed to arrive in waves. I had put on a bit of bug stuff earlier, which mostly helped, but I was able to shoo away the rest. There were some mosquitoes biting, but more flies at this location and they were little more than a nuisance (and if you mentally imagine that you aren't in the PNW and are some form of ancient human, having flies crawling all over you... is not that big of a problem).

Speaking of wildlife, there seemed to be some pikae on the west slopes above Talapus; that being on the far side of the lake, I've never tried to get there; could be an interesting trip, and there is a small trail before arriving at Talapus that I've never taken that may go to east Bandera or perhaps just to the lake. There are also boulders above Olallie (can we say glacial lakes?) in various places. I've snowshoed above the snowy wren spot (20161224) but never really registered that as a boulder slope until my descent from the Pratt saddle (Saturday). Given the lack of audience on the trail at that time, I decided to hop up the boulders a ways for a picture. On my descent, while taking a momentary break to plan my route, there was a very loud shrill squeak! It seems my lower foot was very near a pika! Though I didn't see the fuzzball, I lifted my foot back up, apologized audibly, and sought a different route down.

After lunch and reading, I washed off some of the sunblock and bug stuff, and was tired enough to get some sleep. Back up at 1730, I went out with my camera and tripod for some pictures. After positioning items for the evening, I went out again with my food and headlamp (just in case) and hung around at the day use area for a while, chatting with a few people and slowly working through supper and dessert. It was probably near 2030 when I crawled in the tent, deciding to get in some more reading, but I was fairly well finished a bit after dusk. Instead of forcing myself to stay up while watching movies on my phone, I worked on sleep.

Temperature wise: Too warm Saturday morning, very high 50s, at times not quite cool enough for good hiking. Midday temperatures were suppressed in the shade of the woods, winds below 5mph, so it was cool enough when the dew was rubbing off. Direct sun felt closer to 75--80F, but it wasn't much above 70F in the shade. Mid-afternoon in the tent had a few chilly moments, but this was likely the breeze coupled with my proximity to the stream. Evening temperatures stayed elevated, likely near 70F until at least sunset (surprising, since the mountains to the west blocked the sun far before that), except for rare moments when the breeze blowing across the lake helped. Temperature slowly but steadily dropped overnight, likely in the high 40s at my tent (again the stream proximity). By 7am, however, the hike down seemed mostly low 60s, so it's unlikely the forest managed to cool much.

Feet: The feet were surprisingly well behaved throughout Saturday, though they were becoming annoyed during my return (downhill) from the Pratt saddle. Uphill is generally better, it seems, probably because the steel insole protects my left big toe from excessive flexion stress, and because the basic insole on the right is sufficient cusion. Downhill seems to place more stress on the balls of the feet, likely a combination of increased downward force and extra bending of the toes near the end of each step.

pikae pictures

pikae pictures

Started shortly after 4:30am with the headlamp hoping that it would be in the 50s. Unfortunately it was still too warm, near 70F in the lower forest. Above 4000ft it started to cool but, sadly, there were trillions of biting bugs. I had to break out the bug juice for the first time in years; it helped for about fifteen minutes.

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Mostly playing with the new camera.

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Just a quick jaunt for a little bit of exercise. Nice and cloudy, and trying to (but not quite) raining the entire time. I hit most of the smaller, side trails to the various points; some require a bit of high class 2 work.

No one on the trail. Unsurprising. Some climbers had arrived by the time I was back, around 1130.

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This was tough on the heart as I'm out of shape. Legs seemed to be okay until the final walk on the road, where it became clear that they were finished, and otherwise just not enough muscle to support this ascent without lactic buildup and the impacts on the heart. Breathing seemed mostly okay, perhaps from the recent running. It was a bit warm at times.

I was leaving the parking lot just as it started to drip a bit. I had forgotten that a cell of rain was expected to pass through around that time --- being more focused just on performance and safety, and actually getting back to the Jeep at all --- so I suspect the hundred people still dornking near the summit and falls got soaked.

Surprisingly I was the first on the summit. Two cars were parked on arrival (the bus turn-around, as the gate to the new parking was still locked), but two people were coming down from the falls; I passed them on the rocks ascending to the falls, so they had either stayed at the falls taking pictures, or had only just turned around. At the summit a solo hiker arrived from the road and another arrived from Kamikaze a few minutes later. No one else joined us. The Kamikaze solo mentioned seeing a goat near the summit, and though he found it on the ridge to the south, I was not able to spot it before it had disappeared. No other wildlife on the summit, not even birds, just Spike and Kage, who were the subject of slight amusement from the two hikers. There was an owl in the forest below the summit field.

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Morning practice jaunt in the rain. 30# pack checking options for the feet as related to overnight trips. While it was very cloudy and misty, there was very little actual rain. A bit of light rain, but less than 0.10" in the several hours I was in the trees.

Construction on the new taril is apparently ongoing. They have done a good deal of work, to the point where the old junctions are mostly destroyed and the old trails relatively invisible. The climbers trail opens to the new trail at the top of the switchbacks (above the Wintermute? turnoff). That ridge trail has been slightly rerouted, but is now very wide and much more open. Views should be better southeast across the valley, but the hike will no longer have the feel of being within the forest.

The road above the balcony is a mess, though it's not immediately clear why. They have installed small erosion bumps, that is large mounds of dirt; these are typically only a few feet high, but it makes the road look like it's been torn up entirely. That continues until reaching the small stream just downhill from the (presumed) gallery. They have rerouted a portion of that small stream, so there's no more requirement to boulder up a small river.

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Snowshoeing! (Sunny and 70F, haha).

Mt Wa new trail to the Great Wall junction. Patchy snow started there but was not much of a problem until 500m or so up through the woods where the footing started getting bad, which was hard on the ankles. Spikes were helpful until the woods trail reached the old road, where the snow was deep enough to cause problems of its own. Unfortunately, someone had been up there with no gear and the only track was 18" frozen chimneys; this was the most difficult section, but it continued from the junction onto the Great Wall trail. In several places I was able to walk cautiously on the adjacent snow without falling through (a la Legolas). On the Great Wall the snow was a bit too fluffy (too much sun) for the same trick to work, so I snowshoed from there. The foot track terminated at the northern slope of Change Peak, so I broke trail from there to Mt Wa.

It was gusty but warm so I had a lot of time to take pictures with Spike and Kage, but no drinking (I forgot the liquor). Knowing that the main trail would be a mess, I switched back to spikes for the descent; they were on until I got back to the Great Wall junction, and I pull the poles out while still descending the summit block because the snow was rather slushy (and slippery) in places.

People started to appear while I was descending, the first solo hiker just past the lake, with many other groups 10min afterwards and continuing to the parking lot. Some groups had no poles nor traction; at least one said something about me appearing to be more equipped. At least one group turned around and returned to the parking lot while I was cleaning up, but a few probably made it past the lake. Why people would start an ascent after 11am on a bright sunny day onto snow-covered, sun-exposed terrain, I do not know. Lack of experience hiking in the snow, perhaps.

Feet were not optimal, but they did okay, though I changed insole arrangements three times. Let's see how they are tomorrow.

Surprisingly, I did not get sunburnt to a crisp. Perhaps just a little.

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Quick morning practice jaunt in the rain, 25# pack, trying out some new insoles. It definitely rained, though I managed to squeeze in between a few rounds of 0.10--0.25"/hr.

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Tradition Lake Trailhead, Tiger Mountain Trail, Dwight's Way, Preston Trail, WT1 trail, WT1, road to WT2, WT3, WT3 trail.

Bridge outage between Fred's Corner and the High Point trail. No map was given at the trailhead and the only reference was to "Lingering Loop", which I took to be closer to East Tiger. Instead of backtracking to the K3 trail and missing WT1 entirely, I decided to loop northeast around to the Preston Trail.

Having missed the weekend, I decided to add some extra weight and use the overnight backpack for practice. The 25# was good for some extra exercise without being ridiculous, but still 60% of the usual overnight pack weight and a good test for the feet. Indeed, I had to stop and add a left metatarsal pad after a couple miles because the left big toe was starting to tweak the nerve. The ball of the right foot held up fairly well, and was most noticeable on the WT1 ascent. During the last mile of final descent, the flat gravel-laden path was starting to hurt the right foot as well, but I didn't stop to add the pad. I'm going to try some insoles that are more solid on the front and isolate the toes from flexing as much; I worry this will start to hurt the ankles, but may help considerably with the toe issues.

Otherwise, a very pleasant day. Being a weekday, there was no one around. All foot traffic was heading up Cable Line and there was only a single car in the Tradition parking lot. I had the trail entirely to myself other than the birds and a single deer in the first two miles, and saw no one until several minutes into the descent from WT3.

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Additional mileage and ascent as a day hike not recorded. Estimated 1--1.5mi and 100--200m ascent.

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Headlamp hike before dawn.

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Forecast was for rain and snow, but it was fairly tame below 3000ft. There was an interesting snow band 2-3kft on the descent, but most "weather" was aloft. Temperature dropped 10--15F with the junction to the main trail, through winds had attained a steady 15mph where the new and old trails first nearly touch and up that ridge. Wind was approaching 30mph around the haystack with variable precipitation.

Having felt not wonderful Friday night, I took my time getting ready in the morning, ate more than the usual breakfast, and had time to check the weather. I opted to pack the jackets, so I made most of the ascent in exposed thermals (upper) and rain pants. Snow was light enough to stay dry relatively dry. I wore the eVent mittens outside my leather gloves from the start, and that seemed to help keep my hands warm even with the wind.

At the upper trail junction, I added the jacket and spikes. Considerably more traffic up here, but everyone stopped at the first viewpoint. I continued up the new-snow-covered rocks, which took a bit of kicking to get good grip. Wind and snow increased considerably in the forest and toward the haystack. I encountered one group of two just descending from the bench at the base of the haystack and talked to them a while about the route to Blowdown and Teneriffe.

Snow was rather deep but it was very windy with no signs of alleviation as everything above 3000ft was in the clouds. Hands started to get cold when I was taking pictures (even with the gloves and mittens remaining on) and I had gathered some snow around my boots. Given that there was unlikely to be any reprieve from the wind and weather, that I would have needed to changes gloves and put on gaiters and snowshoes, and that Blowdown RT likely would have taken 3hr, I opted to depart.

There was a group of Mountaineers leaving from the parking lot shortly after me who claimed to be doing a 25# exercise hike to Mt Si. They never caught me and I never saw them; I think they got lost. I passed one person on the ascent, and one group of two plus dog was just catching me as I got to the junction. Unfortunately the dog was off leash and on my heels for ten minutes, which was really slowing me down because I kept slipping and didn't want to fall on it.

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It was a clear crisp day. Though I started 30min later than hoped, I likely could have made Pratt or Granite Tusk were it not for unending lower GI issues. Given that I couldn't climb nor move upward for more than a minute without stopping, I decided to turn around at the lake overlook. The sun had just emerged and the surface snow was likely to start getting fluffy, so snowshoes would have been required; I would not have managed given the circumstances. Initial numbers suggest I averaged 2mph, but I likely made up the difference on the downhill.

There was no snow on the trail until 800m before the lake junction, but there was still a clear/dirt edge to the trail. Conditions didn't warrant spikes until ~200m before the junction, though it would have been manageable with just poles. Only a few spots in the upper part of the forest were soft, but it appeared that all the chimneys were likely from last week. Presumably the heating of the day would have softened the surface considerably.

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Most recent trip report indicated no snow and clear across the 12mi span of the mountain, but that was clearly not the case today. Snow appeared shortly after the (first) ledge, with a good deal of mud and meltwater up to the third ledge. Snow was solid on the trail several hundred meters beyond the third ledge, but it was nearly 1km before the surface had frozen and the trail was icy. After that spikes were required, and the snow continued to get deeper until the first area with considerable drifting, which was before the first road crossing. Snow was 3--4ft deep, particularly in drifts, during the remainder of the hike, though it was not so deep within the woods.

After the third ledge, there were only a few footprints in the track; by the time I put on my spikes, the track had reduced to 1--3 prints. Starting with the first major drifting, it appeared that there was nothing more than a single set of prints and the individual turned around on the old/inaccessible road (heading up the hill to the north, prior to the turn and the westward climb near the old gravel pit / first good view to the north, which is immediately before the horse guard rails near the first road crossing). It took considerable time to ascend some of the drifts as I had expected very little snow (up to a foot, perhaps) and had no snowshoes. Lots of exercise, and I apologize for fouling the trail.

This was the first time I officially hiked with a headlamp, starting an hour before sunrise. The surrounding mountains were quite beautiful at dawn with the cloud cover; everything was blue and crispy and felt "mountainy" and snowy. Hiking in the morning rain with the headlamp was a bit annoying as the nearby drops were big enough to reflect most of the light. Nevertheless, the headlamp performed well, even though it was under my raincoat, and it was powerful enough on the lowest setting (not the 5W moon setting, the next one) to shine up the trail 20--40ft out.

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Snowshoeing, Paradise, Golden Gate, approach to Panorama Point. Most skiers and snowshoers were heading northeast from Paradise so we followed, despite our initial intentions to take the west Skyline trail toward Panorama Point. Effectively followed the Golden Gate trail up the hill then northwest toward Panorama Point. Weather was supposed to be clearing during the day, with the rain moving out shortly before 9am, but near 6600ft it came on to blow and showed no signs of diminishing. Visibility having dropped to 10--200ft maximum, no visible points of reference, and neither of us being experienced with the area, we turned back approximately 0.5mi from Panorama Point.

Poor visibility followed us down and we saw no one else above 6000ft. There were only about a dozen people at the Edith Creek crossing at 5400ft, though the parking lot was full and many were sledding on the hills nearby. It was warmer and less windy, of course, but still snowing at the parking lot, with perhaps 0.25mi visibility into the trees.

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Hiking log from 2017

Hiking log from 2016

Hiking log from 2015

Hiking log from 2014

Hiking log from 2013 and earlier