Road clear of snow to just about 1/4 mile from the trailhead. Trucks and the like made it further into the snow. Almost all clear!
Departed the trailhead around 4pm. At the fork we went right, though there was a guy descending on skis sending people to the left. They both go to lunch counter but looking at the map going right seemed like the better option (more evenly steep along the ascent) so we went that way. Other climbers listened to the skier guy and went left, and we ended up seeing them later on as they passed us, the left route got VERY steep according to them so they bailed off, backtracked and also took the right fork.
We hiked for 5 hours and made it 3 miles in. Snowshoes were helpful but not required. It was getting dark so we stopped for the night. Luckily campsites start popping up around a mile south of and ~1000ft below lunch counter proper. We were ready to be done for the night. Some of you wild folk be climbing up this mountain all night though! :D
Saturday morning we left our camp around 9am with 3 miles to go to the summit. This is only my second PNW volcano summit but it felt like absolutely perfect conditions. Solid boot paths almost the whole way up, a couple inches of soft snow on a firmer base if you wanted a break from the monotony of the boot path.
The climb up to Pikers Peak was the hardest part, felt like the longest sustained steep section. Enough of our fellow climbers prepared us to be demoralized once we saw the true summit, that it wasn't so heartbreaking when we actually did see it. Took a break here. Met the goodest doggie named Augie. She was wearing doggles. It was a highlight of the climb.
The final summit push was still steep but not as long. Took us about 7 hours to go the 3 miles from camp to the summit. Slow and steady baybee! We kept pace pretty much the whole day with the littlest mountaineer out there, a 4 year old kid and his parents. We were very inspired.
Left the summit at 4pm. Weather was still a dream. We were the last to leave Pikers Peak on the descent which was kind of fun. Excellent glissading on the way back down to lunch counter. Lunch counter was starting to fill up but still plenty of camp sites, you just might want a snow shovel to clear out a flat spot close to the rock walls. Took us only 2 hours to go the 3 miles back to our camp. Immediately it started to alternatively snow/rain while we packed up.
Once we left it took us 1.5 hours to go the 3 miles back to the trailhead. The snow had melted out a lot more in the last day. A lot more cars made it much closer to the trailhead.
Get out there! I hope you have similarly lovely conditions. Happy hiking!
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