First, I will say- Mapquest will have you going all over the place if you follow it. The directions are solid on WTA. Although, driving to the trail head might seem a little suspicious. As I was crossing 906, I noticed there were homes being built in the area. As I drove through, there were large, orange barrels in the middle of the road. There were a few trespass signs but none that applied to traveling on the road. As I think back on this, I think the orange barrels were an attempt to keep people from speeding. 

I finally crossed onto a gravel road, and over a bridge. Once on the gravel road, I made a determination that I should have drove my truck. I was in my four door sedan, and although I made it to the trail head with minor scrapes, I think the road is in rough enough condition that I would forewarn those of you who want to drive a small sedan. You'll need some clearance because my front end scraped a lot, and I came away with some broken side skirts on my vehicle. I will also note that there were several car parts laying on the road. There is one part on the road, in particular, where it hairpins to the left, and the road is gently washed out exposing some nicely sized rocks.  

I must've not been paying much attention because I totally missed the trail head. I ended up at Coal Creek #17 which is 100 feet passed the Mt Catherine TH. I back tracked, parked and started up the mountain. There will be a trail to your left as you start approaching the switch backs. Continue to your right. 

The trail is in great condition. As you ascend, you'll start to wander into snow and the only spot I was really worried about will probably be gone in another week or so. The people before be blazed a good enough trail through the snow patch where I didn't need micro-spikes. But one slip and you'll take a nasty fall 200 feet down. 

Mt Catherine surprised me at how quickly the summit was before me. 3.6 miles of decent incline, soft trail and not a lot of obstacles. The hike felt really good and I was the only one at the summit. Mt Rainier was in full bloom with not a cloud in the sky. I made it back to my vehicle in less than an hour. Be safe! 

Was able to get to trail head with a flat. no problems there.

Snow still before the summit. had to scramble around it.

A lot of bugs.

Beautiful view. One of my favorite spots.

Stellar drive-  some washouts on the road to the trailhead

Trailhead was smooth until higher elevation- snow along the way- THEN about .5miles -   encountered a snow bank — with that steep opening that I didnt want to cross-  However if you brought SnowShoes-  cross carefully if there is snow, as there is nothing to stop your slide for more than 100 feet.

Great day- great drive-  Mother Natured prevailed!

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I had planned a snowshoe hike from Annette Lake trail to Mt Catherine then loop back via PCT a month ago, finally I completed it today. 

The road to Annette Lake was kind of iffy open, there were recent tire marks over the shrinking snow berm but I did not see any cars on the road or in the parking lot. The road was not plowed yet, but SUV with high clearance or traction devices might make it. I just parked on the north side of I-90 and walked across the overpass which added 1.5 miles to the round trip.

Trail & snow conditions: first 2 miles on Annette Lake trail were well packed down, perfect for microspikes, snowshoes unnecessary. After that, leaving trail, climbing the ridge, it’s snowshoes all the way.

Other gears, better-haves: gaiters, both water-proof gloves and pants, ice axe, GPS, and compass which I found really a complement to GPS when I need to join the main trail or gaining the ridge ASAP. 

The epic snowfall, combined with record-breaking cold February has made this area a winter wonderland. The Olallie Meadows became a giant Nordic track field and I saw about 2 dozen of XC skiers, but not a single hiker.

Along the way I opened two tracks: Mt Catherine summer trail to the ridge, and PCT north leaving Olallie Meadows, they were all under heavy snowpack, especially the latter.

My timeline: I started at 7:50AM from north side of I-90, summit at 12:05PM. I stayed up there for no more than 10 minutes because it was windy and freezing, temperature most likely in 10s. I got back at my car at 3:50 PM, surprisingly found one unused bottle of water I carried whole way had turned into bottle of ice rod.