Starting at 9:45 the small lot was full but there was no one parked on the road. When I left around noon there were cars up and down the road.

Going clockwise around the loop there was very little snow on the trail until a bit before the Elinor Connector. From then onwards there was consistent snow until after the bridges. While I carried microspikes, I was able to safely navigate with just poles as the snow was soft and slushy. 

If I had started earlier or it was a colder day, I would want microspikes. If it refroze then it would be tricky to navigate.

I arrived at 8:15AM. Parking lot too snow covered so I parked on the side of the road where it was snow free. You def want poles and microspikes for this one. I hiked clockwise and found the left part of the loop to be MUCH easier to walk but not sure if this was due to the early start & colder temps making the snow more solid to walk on. Attempted to reach the viewpoint after the Mt Ellinor intersection but too sketchy so continued on the loop. I was slipping, sliding, and postholing the whole way back on the right part of the loop. Nice quiet trek through beautiful snowy woods, only passed two people! Stats below.

I must have just missed the trip report from 3/5 so we were surprised to arrive to 8-12” of snow in the parking lot.  Donned microspikes and headed up clockwise.  Snow was soft and loose.  We counted 12 downed trees on the loop as well as some branches to navigate through.

The bridges are a bit of a challenge to navigate with snow piled deep on the walkway as well as the railings.   The bridge across Big Creek at the upper part of the loop felt a bit sketch. 

Snow at the upper end of the loop is 24-30” deep, mushy, lots of postholing…

Snow 6 - 36 inches deep. Poles helpful, others on trail had micro-spikes.
Went counterclockwise to ascend steeper part with deeper snow. On the other side (route to Mt Ellinor) less snow and path created by a sled. 

Our dog declared bridges the with narrow walkways and deep snow sketchy.

Pic of blowdown included for trail crew. Maybe 5 significant ones + a root ball. 

Second day driving up to the Cushman area from Olympia, this time to try a new hike with a friend. 

Normally when I drive past here the parking lot is packed (and it was with the nice weather yesterday), but arriving at 9:30 today and there were like 6 cars total. Of to a good start! 

The trail is in lovely shape. Not a lot of mud, zero snow, and no blowdowns anywhere. Lot of water to be had everywhere. As my friend commented: the waterfalls of the Olympics “just hit different”, and I have to agree. 

Also great was the floral life. So many ferns everywhere, tons of moss, and trees. 

Weather was fine, a bit cold, windy and light drizzle but nothing unmanageable.