FRI March 14. Sunny morning above freezing, after days of precipitation, which is important context for this report.
PARKING.
At 0730 there were 15 cars in the lot that holds, perhaps 100. As I went up, it was clear that most of these were trail runners out early. The 2 bathrooms at the parking area were clean, stocked and functioning. (Thank you government and volunteer workers who keep our parks and forests usable!)
NOTE: read the UW sign on the map wall. It asks you to text the headcount of people you see at the TH at that moment, as part of a study on trail usage. It's all by text, you answer 3 questions. Takes 60 seconds. Please do it to help get better information about site usage and scarce resource allocations.
TRAIL
The trail is clear to follow and no obstructions to the top.
SNOW.
Snow starts about 1800 feet, but not enough to warrant micro-spikes. However, by about 3200' you will absolutely want micro-spikes. By .3 miles to the top sign, the snow is 12" deep though there were clear tracks. Most people turned around at the first clear view of Mt. Rainier, where there is a very short scramble up about 10' of rocks in the summer. Few went beyond this point.
The snow was lovely powder about 24" deep in the last .1 mile to the Teneriffe Connector junction. I turned back there because there was only one prior set of post-holed foot path. This section warranted snow shoes for safety, ease, and fun.
The two prior days of precipitation left a nice powder cover of snow on ground and trees branches. Morning sun and wind created a lovely gentle "snow fall" off the branches on the way up. However, by 1030. the warming sun turned the snow on branches to ice. On the way down, I was regularly pelted with falling small hail pellets and occasionally a slushy hail "ball" that really hurt when it hits your head (ergo: wear a hat). The slushy made micro-spikes more important for farther down the mountain.
I started heading down about 1030 and got to the TH by 1230 -- I saw perhaps 35 folks going up.
FUN FACT
Unbeknownst to me, FRI was National Pie Day and two endurance trail runners had the back of their pickup open and were handing out pieces of pie to anyone who wanted some. They enjoyed some of their own very high caloric pies and then... headed up the mountain again for their THIRD ascent of the morning! ("Ah, to be young again." I thought wistfully).
At the TH/parking lot there were 41 cars at 1230.
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