McDonald Mountain — Saturday, Feb. 9, 2013

Puget Sound and Islands > Seattle-Tacoma Area

Snow starts approximately one mile before the radio tower around 2600ft. Excellent views of the Olympics to the west, and Rattlesnake and friends to the north from the saddle, but partly sunny weather permitted only one viewing of Mt Rainier from a lower turnoff old FS road. Early morning hiking permitting easy movement without snowshoes or traction devices, though the upper crust of snow was starting to collapse around 11AM on the descent. Expect deeper snow on the transit from the radio tower to the summit (we didn't do this today), particularly around the area of the fallen-log-jam. Lower portions of the trail were relatively dry and free of deep mud but that may quickly change with rain and runoff.