The forest road is covered in a few inches of packed snow, but there were tracks through to the dirt in most places. The parking lot is 3-4 inches of solid snow. The trail has intermittent snow up to 3 inches at the deepest (over half covered in snow), but there are no slippery spots, so no microspikes necessary today. It was a mostly sunny day, which afforded some views across the valley to the illuminated snow-dusted slopes. We walked about 3.5-4 miles to the first spot where the trail came close to the river and sat on a large riverside rock bathed in the dappled sun--with melting snow from the trees sprinkling down on us.
Lots of creeks running high descending over the trail and some small creeks becoming one with the trail, but it was possible to navigate along rocks and keep feet dry. Even with the big windstorm the previous night, there were only a handful of small trees and branches across the trail--no major impediments. Had the trail to ourselves all day and only saw one person just as we were coming back to the car.
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