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.

Tried to make it to the trailhead but were unable to do so via truck. Snow is completely covering the road and one of the roads was closed completely with a road closed sign. Massive bummer.

The Annette Lake TH is icy and snow covered, but all manner of vehicles are not hindered from getting there. The trail is 99% compact snow and ice and you'll want micro spikes.

I was repeating the route I did last week, but failed to summit Mt. Catherine. Once I left the Annette Lake trail at the last switchback it was all powder and lots of it, all the way to Mt. Catherine.

Fortunately part way up Mt. Catherine, at the 'Nordic Track Summit',  I found some XC ski tracks that mostly followed the summer trail up to the summit, making the journey immensely easier. On the way back I took the snowcat track (wasn't plowed last time) which takes you very close to the Annette Lake junction. Total distance =10.1mi, gain 4300vf. 

I linked the GPS route.

Great snowshoeing day. Started from the Hyak Sno Park and followed Forest Road 9070 (it's groomed with plenty of skiers) for roughly 3 miles, almost to the PCT. Using our GPS maps we located the trailhead for Mount Catherine (which was nothing more than a faint gap in the trees) and broke through heavy snow for around 0.75 mi. We eventually connected with another snowshoe/ski path that took us to the summit.

The top is one large cornice so be careful. There is very little avalanche risk on this hike, but caution should still be exercised on the last 0.5 mile up.

My goal was to Summit Mt. Catherine from the Annette Lake TH. I was lazy this morning and ended up leaving later than I usually do. 

The Annette Lake trail is in pretty good shape and has compact snow and ice continuously at about 2600ft. At 3300ft I left the trail (Silver Peak route) and headed up the slope. There is a bunch of scrub and low trees still uncovered by the snow. I'd say about 2.5 to 3 more feet of snow and the hillside will be much easier to navigate. The snow was pretty crunchy with snow drifts and I ended up putting my snowshoes on after a few hundred feet. 

Once I got to the top, I headed East across Olallie Meadows to the base of Mt. Catherine. It is a pretty good haul, a mile and a half or so. 

Mt Catherine was pretty snowy and untracked- it made for slow going. Around 2pm I was at 4500ft: about 500 vertical feet and 2/3 mile from the top. Two was my turn around time, so that was it. Total mileage 8.1, 3600vf. 

It definitely would be easier to summit from the Hyak side.