This trail is in excellent shape. We hadn't been up it in a couple of years, and much work has been done since then. We hiked clockwise, and went up to the viewpoint, which we felt was well worth the effort. We came down the east side on the way back, which is the longer way, but a nice hike. Next time we'll have to count the bridges, as there are many. Thanks to the WTA and crew, for the great work on this trial.

Hiked Upper Big Creek Loop for the first time today. Included Mt Elinor connector to the lookout. A short patch of snow just before the lookout, but no problems. Used poles and no need at all for microspikes. Sun was out and trail was dry. Not many hikers. A great hike on a beautiful day.

With the connector, total mileage of 8.3 and 1788 feet of elevation.

3/20/21 - First car at the TH at 8am. The sun was out and the skies blue. With temperatures creeping upwards melting snowpack higher up the creeks were swollen and the trail pretty wet. Connector trail to the overlook was a slushy - sloppy mess. Full rain gear needed as the trees were relentlessly dropping snow-bombs and the snow/slush reached calf deep not far up.
Met a friendly hiker & dog (hi Honey!) heading up towards Ellinor as I started back down. Wished them the best of luck, then found a dropped water bottle a few minutes down trail. I perched their bottle on a plank so they’d be sure to spot it on the way down.
Wore spikes for the short descent to the loop, but didn’t need them otherwise.
With the Saturday sunshine came the crowds - there were more than 30 cars parked at the TH once I returned shortly after 11am. I’m glad that most people tend to do this loop trail clockwise which makes it feel far less trafficked than it actually is.

I arrived at the trail head just before 11 on a potentially sunny Saturday morning. Going clockwise I hit easy to traverse snow near the top of the massive incline. Since I could finally see blue skies above I put on the microspikes and headed up to the lookout via the Ellinor connector. You can make it up to the lookout without the spikes with a little slip and sliding and some caution (a few hikers proved this). I wouldn't recommend tennies and no spikes for the trek back down. But you do you and rock the trail how you see fit. There isn't enough snow to merit worry, just enough to dazzle you with snowscapes here and there. The lookout rocked the planet. Totally worth it.

Arrived about 9:00 to begin hiking.  Two cars in the lot, when we returned at 1:30 or so, the lot was full and there were about a dozen cars parked along the road.  The trail is in great shape, especially considering how much rain fell the day before and overnight; if you are doing the loop, you should be fine in boots and not need traction devices.  However, we took the Ellinor Connector trail up to the lookout and put on our microspikes almost immediately after the turnoff.  We might not have needed them so much on the way up, but certainly on the way back down we were much more comfortable with them on (although we saw many people heading up without them and they seemed to be doing fine).  Lots of people, dogs, and some children on the trail as we were coming back down which was reflected in how many cars there were.  I learned a lesson today - it doesn't matter if snow/rain is falling from the skies as precipitation, or falling from the trees with sunny skies - it will get you just as wet.  In short, we needed to put our rain gear on a lot sooner than we did!