Quick stats:
2 hours up, 1 hour down
1950ft elevation gain
8.7 miles round trip
The drive up to gold creek sno park was pretty easy - it’s right off I-90. The road and parking at the sno park itself was not fully plowed. Many spaces were covered in thick ice. I managed to find a spot on the side of the road that was ice free.
I started hiking around 12:30 in snowshoes. There were a few other hikers using snowshoes but the majority of hikers used micro spikes. I also saw two snowboarders and a cross country skier going down the trail as I ascended. The trail started off fairly wide but the packed down portion of the trail (not the road) narrowed quickly. The trail itself was fairly packed, but was deep if you ventured off trail. I didn’t have any difficulty moving off trail with my Evo Ascents and tails, but sunk a bit when I took off the tails. Given the trail was fairly packed, I opted to stay on the trail and didn’t use my tails much.
I made it to the first pond but didn’t see a safe way to the second pond, so I turned around and went to a clearing to enjoy a late afternoon snack looking towards Mt Rainier. Going downhill was fairly easy and I had no trouble with my snowshoes due to the built in spikes / crampons. It may have been more difficult to descend for some of the micro spike hikers due to the icy nature of the packed portion of the trail.
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