We arrived to the upper trailhead around 0730 and were the first car, but quickly followed by a few others. The road is in fantastic condition, suitable for any vehicle. Unfortunately, the vault toilet was locked, so come prepared! Lol.
We weren't entirely sure what to expect regarding snow, so we brought spikes and gaiters.
Snow on the trail didn't really start until 2-2.5 miles in. Once at Camp Windy, the snow got deeper. We decided to keep going without spikes. Once above the trees in the clearing, lots of ice patches popped up, and if you stepped out of the main trail/stomped boot path, you'd post hole. The views were antastic today! A blue bird day, all 5 volcanos were visible, faint outlines of the skyscrapers in Seattle and Bellevue and the snowy peaks of the Buckhorn Wilderness. We pushed on to the summit without spikes, but they would've helped speed up our pace a bit. The last half a mile to the summit had a lot of ice patches that were very slippery.
The summit was cold and windy, so we didn't stay too long. We donned spikes for the way down. The snow was melting quickly and the packed morning snow was now mashed potatoes, which wasn't pleasant to trudge through. We saw lots of hikers and dogs headed up as we came down.
8.16 miles RT with 3k gain. It took us 4 moving hours, with lots of time to stop at stare at the beautiful views!
We made a quick lunch stop at Quilbilly's in Quilcene and I would highly reccomend.
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