We tried to do the Cooper River on snowshoes. We read ehiker's report from Dec 26 and it was helpful getting started. Getting on to the trail doesn't seem to match the book. We followed what appeared to be a occasionally groomed ski trail out to a summer trailhead. The ski trail hadn't been groomed in a while. There was lots for fairly new snow - I guess there was some on Saturday and maybe Sunday January 16-17. There were recent tracks to follow for a while, which made travel pretty easy. We slowed down considerably once we were breaking trail. There appeared to be a remnant of trail that we were following. Our tracking software indicated we went 2.3 miles from the car. Eventually the slope we were traversing got steeper than we were comfortable with and we came to a tree we couldn't get around. The new snow on the trees was starting to come down more and more, as well. It was a nice outing, even if we only made it about half-way. The trail is close to the river at the start, but not very closer later on. We could see it again where we started. Didn't see any wildlife. On our way out we saw a few more couples, following the now well defined tracks that may or may not be going the right way. The salmon la Sac road is well plowed to about 6 miles out of Roslyn, then packed snow. But our Corolla (front wheel drive, anti-lock brakes) had no difficulty.

No hoards of people here. Salmon La Sac was apparently a great choice for some snow play yesterday. The road is plowed to the snow park(s), but is definitely icy with compact snow in places. I never noticed any dicy areas, but I was driving an AWD car, so I can't say how it would have been otherwise. It was lumpy in places, but I doubt there was anything that would have bothered a low clearance car. We arrived relatively early (probably around 8:30), but there were a fair number of snow mobilers that were already parked and away. After crossing the bridge into the park we encountered no one until quite late in the day. We didn't even hear any snow mobiles, except for once on the lower portion of the Cooper River trail - they must have been on the road that goes up the other side. There's probably around 3-6 feet of snow on the ground depending on how it's piled up and drifted. You will need snowshoes or skis to go pretty much anywhere off of the road. The ski trails had not been groomed. We wandered a bit before figuring out we had to ignore all of the Private Property signs and actually go up the road to the right a bit - all of the landmarks, like the gate and signs are either buried or no longer existing… so go to the right just after crossing the bridge, then as the buried road appears to Y take the left fork (not toward the Cle Elum river and cabins) - the road will become relatively defined and you'll find the trailheads - the tops of the trailhead signboards are just visible. There are two trail heads quite close together. Go up the hill to the left of the further sign to reach the Cooper river trail. There'd been no other people there at all since the last snowfall, so we were breaking trail pretty much anywhere we went - it was definitely hard work. The snow was very powdery and while the snowshoes definitely kept us close to the top (they are a style that work best on Cascade concrete.. more than powder snow), we were probably going in a foot or two. The snow in the campground area was probably actually harder break trail on than the snow on the trail - more trees to keep it a little more compact and shallower? but still there were drifts and loose spots. I went in a soft spot once to about my hip (in a little V too, so snow on either side was about shoulder height..), and had to dig out a bit, but never felt like I was in danger of being buried. The actual trail wasn't really at all apparent. Using a GPS we wandered around somewhere within about 40 feet of it most of the time, but if you are up there, don't expect to follow our track and be accurate…. Breaking trail and climbing was pretty exhausting, so we didn't really go up very far, I think about 1/3rd of the way to the lake, before deciding that we should turn around. Going back in our own track (and down) was much, much quicker than we expected, even though I wouldn't really say that once over by two people completely packed it down, so we decided to ramble around the campground area for a while before heading back to the car. We stopped to have some nice hot soup in the partially buried shelter before walking the river bank for a while and then circling around back through the campground. It was probably around 3pm as we were heading back out to the car that we finally encountered a few groups of people coming in to wander the campground. All had snowshoes. We saw some ski tracks when we got back down from the trail, but they were using our previously broken trail and only went about 4 feet further than where we'd made our original wrong turn before they turned around… I guess it may have been too hard going for skis. In all we travelled around 7 miles, with probably 2/3rds breaking our own trail and a little doubling back. While I'm surprised to not be sore today, we sure were tired yesterday. More photos - including the kitty ears on the outhouse in my Flickr album - https://flic.kr/s/aHskrDQMJH One interesting thing - while we could definitely see that there were blowdowns in places - the large downed tree shaped snow lumps - there was so much snow that we never actually had to really climb over them… the snow would just push out the way/pack down to make the track nearly level... Oh - and frozen gummy bears are awesome :)

It was looking a little stormy at Snoqualmie Pass on Sunday, so I drove a bit further east to the Salmon la Sac area to chase the blue skies for my first snowshoe of the season. I hadn't been to this area before, but would definitely recommend it. As the directions say, follow route 903 until the end. You'll see a sign that says no motor vehicles, except snowmobiles beyond this point. When you see that, you know you're at the spot and you can park along the road. Make sure your Sno-Park pass is displayed. The drive there takes you through the towns of Roslyn and Ronald, which are great spots for lunch on your way back home. Once out town, be careful on the road to the trailhead. Although the directions say the road is plowed, I would not attempt this unless you have a higher clearance vehicle and 4 wheel drive. The road was very slushy and I fishtailed a few times in my Crosstrek. I was able to put on my snowshoes from where I parked. Don't be discouraged by the number of snowmobilers you'll see. There is a separate snowshoe and XC ski trail that is peaceful and set apart from the snowmobile route. You'll hear an occasional humming in the distance, but for the most part it is drowned out by the sounds of the rushing Cooper River. The parking area is about 0.5 miles from the actual trailhead. Follow the road past the closed ranger station, and use the car bridge to cross the river toward the Salmon la Sac Campground. You will see a sign for Trail 1311. I encountered a few downed trees across the trail, however, they were relatively easy to navigate around. Lots of animal footprints in the snow, but unfortunately, no sightings. I did not see a single person on the trail, and enjoyed the rare opportunity of having the trail to myself. I broke lots of trail; the snow was wet and heavy from the recent storms. Keep in mind that this trail hugs the river, but is mostly above it. You can hear it and see it at times, but don't venture too far off trail as there is a somewhat steep drop-off to the river. This trail is definitely snowshoe ready. I used mine the whole time. There were a few small gaps in the snow, but otherwise the trail was completely snow covered. In terms of gear, definitely have snowshoes, skis, and rain gear. This snowshoe takes you mostly through the trees. The melting snow from the tree branches felt like rain, so without a rain jacket, you'll be soaked! Will definitely be back to this lovely and accessible spot.

Wonderful spring wildflowers and surprising solitude next to this cascading river. We arrived at the Salmon La Sac campground trail head (downstream access point) at noon to find only 4 cars in the parking lot. As soon as you start from the trail head, the river cascades through a narrow gorge. If what you want to do is hang out on the rocks and enjoy the river, stop here. We made a quick reconnaissance and continued up the trail. If you start looking, you will also see a grand variety of wildflowers - even a few glacier lilies remaining in a wet area on the right side of the trail before you start to climb away from the river. I am not expert at flower ID but I did recognize trillium, balsam root, yellow violets, calypso orchids, vanilla leaf, lupine, and paintbrush, plus several mystery blue flowers. You will get a few limited views of the river in the first stretch, but otherwise it is an undulating but net upward trail that parallels but remains out of sight of the river. The forest is pretty open, so likely to be hot and dry later in the season. One small and one large blow-down across the trail, both passable. We ambled along until we reached a decent stream crossing - noted for coming out from under and between two cedars. Maybe 2 miles to this point. We enjoyed our lunch and turned around (it is 4 miles to the other trail head at Cooper Lake), checking out a few more wildflowers off the main path and returned to the riverside rocks to sketch and relax. Saw only 5 people on the trail, expect more as camping season opens.