It was Sunday so the parking and pond were crowded. I have hiked this pond many times and I have to say the amount of garbage I saw it’s out of control. I don’t know if it’s cause they haven’t picked it up since winter started- it’s possible. Or people are just inconsiderate. I have a dog. I also have a ziploc bug so if she goes, I can use a poop bug and then put in the ziploc and take it with me in my pack. Apparently nobody else does that. There is poop on the ground everywhere from the parking area to the beginning of the trail. People are leaving bags with dog poop piled up right under a sign that says “garbage not picked up in winter”. It blows my mind that people come here with kids and dogs and just leave trash as if it was a mall. 
I really hope they close it for restoration and then they either not re open it or have a no dogs allowed sign. I have dogs and I take them with me so I guess this is what we get for being dirty dog owners. They had ruined it for everyone. 

Very satisfying, fun, and beautiful hike. It was nice seeing people enjoying the snow, throwing snowballs, and building snowmen, but also having moments of solitude to myself. I saw no one much north of the picnic area this afternoon. Did the loop around the pond and included the offshoot to Heli’s Pond. From the snowshoe trailhead parking on the road, I ended up doing 5 miles and spending 2 hours out there. My legs were enjoying the break from elevation, climbing less than 200ft. The pond looks mostly frozen from the southern picnic area, but has unfrozen sections in the northern part of the loop that offers some nice reflections. I used only traction that I put over my shoes and it was convenient to be able to put them on and take them off at the car versus in the middle of a hike. I appreciate all the snowshoers who went before me and helped create a packed down trail. I do hope that over the next 7 or so years while this area is closed for restoration, that they are able to reopen over winter when construction is on hold. And for those who just don’t know better, please be prepared to take all trash to include dog poo with you when you leave. Don’t add to a pile just because someone started one. Let’s not give them a reason to not reopen over winters please!

Beautiful snow, thoroughly packed down, snowshoes unnecessary. We used spikes. It's always a beautiful hike! The trail was almost empty when we got there at 8:30am, easy parking. When we finished around 11:30, cars were parked all along the street from the I-90 exit well past the Gold Creek trailhead, several reducing the road to a single lane. And two cars were trying to drive up the unplowed road! Some pretty crazy New Year's Day antics!

Merry Christmas to all those who celebrate 🥳 We got ours started near Snoqualmie Pass at Gold Creek Pond this morning. We didn't need to dream of a white one — we got one!

Note that with the snowstorm today, most of this trip report will likely be out of date by the time it's even posted. But hey, here are some pretty pictures!

THE ROAD / PARKING

FR 4832 was mostly snow-free, just a bit slick. FR 144 was where the snow began. We parked at the intersection of the two on FR 4832, as did most cars. There are 2 port-a-potties here — the one I used, at least, had plenty of toilet paper and hand sanitizer, and was in good shape.

When we got to there around 9 this morning, there were maybe 10 cars there. There was also one car that had braved the snow and parked at the actual Gold Creek Pond trailhead. I wouldn't recommend this for most cars (the one that made it did fine, clearly, so some good off-roading/AWD/4WD cars would not have an issue), especially as it's such a short snow hike to the trailhead — we saw a car stuck in the snow as we were heading back to our own just a few hundred feet up from the intersection, with folks trying to push the car out (it looked like they were able to get it). 

When we got back to the cars, there were cars lined 0.1 mile down the road in either directions — a few dozen at least.

We bought our Sno-Park permit online yesterday and printed it off — a sign at the turn off onto FR 4832 indicated you needed one to park on the road. 

THE TRAIL

Well, it was snowy!

My partner and I had prepared for snowshoe conditions but we never used them. We did put spikes on, which made for super easy walking but we would have been fine without them. The snow on trail was packed down, and easy to walk on and follow.

There were actually a few very small sections on trail that were bare. Not enough or long enough to take off the spikes, but that might give you an idea of what the snow was like.

MISC.

When we got started, there were only a few parties out, but as we finished up the loop, we saw a lot of people coming up from where we parked (many of whom had sleds). We were surprised by how many cars we saw when we got back!

The pond was really pretty. The side of the pond away from the creek inlet was so calm and had a sheet of ice forming on it.

Parked on the northside of the road and walked to parking lot to begin the hike. Snow throughout. Needed crampons for shoes