Started my hike on the Upper Trail to Mt. Townsend at 9 a.m. today. There were only a couple of other hikers out there at that point. The trail was in good condition except for one downed tree, but it didn't pose any major difficulty. The trail's 20% grade (as posted by USFS at the trailhead) seemed almost easy compared to some other trails in the area (hence its popularity, I suppose).
Everything was going smoothly up to the first major vista point and then snow started to appear on the trail shortly thereafter, intermittently at first, then mostly covering the trail about 0.25 miles up from the vista point (around 5,200-ish feet). A few rhodie blossoms were starting to make their first appearance. There were a couple of melt-out spots here and there amidst the snow; however, it became so deep that I decided to turn around, despite the fact that I'd put on my spikes. Honestly, I'm not sure I would have proceeded even if I'd had trekking poles with me. Some of the postholes previously made by others (in addition to a couple of my own) were pretty deep and, at my turnaround point, I was standing atop a 4-to-5-foot high snowdrift (it's hard to tell from the picture but the step down off of it was a good couple of feet, and I could see farther up the trail that it wasn't going to get better after that).
Since I was hiking solo, I wasn't comfortable proceeding any further so...no summit for me today. :( But the weather was nice and the vista point is certainly a worthy place to stop and enjoy the fruits of the work to get there. Saw a few more people on my way down and gave them the snow report when they asked. Did any of them decide to brave it? I guess we'll know if anyone else posts a report for today. All in all a nice hike and an enjoyable day. :)
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