Well, the description is right, it is really hard to find. In fact, I'm still not sure if the trail I found is this one. The trailhead I found was about six miles from the freeway off-ramp and had a little wooden post with a small Pacific Crest Trail logo on it, but no other marker. No parking lot anywhere either, so it's probably not right one. There was a small foot bridge early on with a little pond on the right. Oh, well, pretty trail anyway! I foraged through bushes for a couple hours until my pants and shoes got soaked and my fingers wrinkled from mist. No bear sightings (sad).

We decided for the hike because it's short and the elevation gain is not too much for our two children, 5 and 3,5 years old. Driving on FR 9070 was easy with our Toyota Highlander most of the way except two places where the gravel was washed away (this was after long dry summer). And at the trail head we saw a car with low profile. After about 5.4 miles from the freeway (and about 1.9 miles from the Cold Creek trail head) the road got much worse (no gravel) and shortly before that we saw two cars parked at some trail head, so we decided that must be Mt Catherine trail head. And the guess was correct. We started about at 3 pm. The trail head looks more like a narrow stony road but shortly changes into a nice path. At that place there is a old wooden sign on a tree Mt. Catherine 1348. The trail goes in switchbacks about 3/4 a mile then flattens somehow and becomes switchbacks again at the end when you reach the rocky top. The views were as on a typical cloudy day. It was an easy and pleasant hike for the kids and if it was on a sunny day, the view would have been beautiful. It took us about 2,5 hours round trip. This was Sunday and at this late afternoon we met one couple going down and shortly after us two full cars came (about ten people), so we were not abandoned at all but I imagine on a weekday you would be totally on you own there.

My intention was to do Silver Peak, but that turned out differently. The weather is still not convinced that it should be summer, and it was misty and cloudy all day. The drive to the trailhead was fine. Some potholes, but they were easily avoided. There is some parking at the trailhead, but not enough if this gets popular. I was the first at 9am and set out towards the lake. The trail towards the lake is beautiful with glimpses of the creek from time to time. The lake itself is very full. I spend some time exploring the shores and having a good time. I chose to do the loop clockwise, which seems to be the wrong option. After Twin Lake, the trail becomes really steep. Lots of switchbacks are taking you straight up the mountain side. You can tell that there are not many people doing this hike. The nature is trying to retake the trail. Once you get to the ridge, the snow starts. And that is where I got lost the first time. As everything was hidden behind the clouds, I had a hard time figuring out where exactly I was on the map. Finally I found the junction with the PCT. After that I lost the trail another time trying to find the crest that would take me up to Silver Peak. By now it was past lunch time. I found another marker for the PCT and decided to have some lunch first. The clouds would not open and I abandoned my attempts to find Silver Peak. I went back to the PCT marker and immediately lost the trail again. There is just too much snow still. Luckily my faithful four-legged hiking buddy found some footprints for me and we followed those down the PCT. The last part of the loop (1348) is in very good shape. It's a lovely loop and I will be back to include the peak once the snow has melted and we finally have a sunny day. PS. If you lost something near the PCT-1303 junction, drop me a note.

The Nordic Pass Trail is a gentle snowshoe or ski route with minimal avalanche danger. It is not well known and should be. It begins up a road from Hyak near Snoqualmie Pass. I have an earlier report with directions to the trail and along it. There are blue diamonds all the way to Nordic Pass and on to Windy Pass. http://www.kuresman.com/2006/Trip_Reports/Nordic_Pass/Report_Nordic_Pass.html Now on to the trip report: After nearly a month with no new snow the mountains were unusually bare and icy. This week we had 16" of snow at Snoqualmie Pass. Not a lot but at least enough to cover some of the ice. A number of folks expressed interest in a snowshoe trip but by Saturday night only four of us were in. Barry, Suzanne, and I met in North Seattle and we picked up Carla on the way. Avalanche danger was moderate but we wanted to be safe and chose Nordic Pass with a try for Mt. Catherine if snow and avalanche conditions allowed. We were parked and on our way by around 9:00 am. The usual snowbank where we left the road was almost non existent. Only a few feet tall. Although the snow was pretty well consolidated we donned our snowshoes immediately. The snow bridge over the creek was thin but hard packed and icy. It easily held our weight. The route goes away from the creek but there was not a track to be seen that way. There was a track that paralleled the creek. It crossed the old railroad grade then came to the main crossover ski track from Summit Central to Hyak. Since Hyak is closed for the season this road was not groomed. Our track continued right heading up the ski route. We were able to guesstimate the place where the Nordic Pass Trail crosses the road and we headed straight uphill. By the time we reached the meadow we were back on the blue diamond Nordic Pass Trail. It was clear on our drive up but cloudy as we reached Snoqualmie Pass. At Hyak Lake we were in the clouds. I could barely see across the lake. We headed on and crossed one set of groomed cross country ski tracks and reached the big power line corridor. This is where the route crossed groomed tracks several times and can be hard to follow. All of us had done the route a number of times and had little trouble finding the diamonds once across the tracks. From here up we were on fresh snow. It was not deep but not crusty either. The diamonds were nearly ten feet above eye level. Hard to believe how little snow there is so far this year. We contoured around Frog Lake and managed to follow the diamonds all the way to Nordic Pass. At the pass I could just touch the Nordic Pass sign with my pole fully extended. I'd say it's about 12 feet above the current snow level. It was still a fairly balmy 32 degrees and there was almost no wind. We had a short food break and decided to head on to Mt. Catherine. The snow was deeper above the pass but not too bad for climbing. I forgot my MSR extensions so I had the most weight and short 22" snowshoes. I was still sinking even when fourth in line. We stayed right on or very near the crest most all the way up. There were some "whoomp" sounds but no signs of sloughing. As was mentioned early on in the trip the ridge seems to go on forever. We reached Nordic Pass in 1:50 and it took us over an hour to do the much shorter climb to the summit. It does gain another 1000'. The crux of the climb is the summit block. The first time Suzanne and I were stopped by thin rotten snow just below the top. On my second attempt we cut across the left side all the way to the far ridge and had an easy walk up from there. On my third attempt we cut left then steeply up to the ridge and along it to the summit. This one was much like number three. The snow was too soft to make an ice axe useful. We slipped and slid and climbed the last 75 or so fee to the ridge top. Barry went up the narrow ridge and Suzanne and Carla cut across the face then up. I tried the lower route but the slope broke away. I went up the ridge. We had some views towards Silver peak and across to Granite Mountain while ascending but the views from the summit were minimal. We stayed long enough for a few photos and then headed down. That first 75' was the tricky part then it was easy. After dropping 150' we stopped for lunch. Thankfully the wind was still light. The slog down the ridge went much faster. Soon we were back at Nordic Pass. Coming down from the pass I had a few twinges of cramps and had to slow down. I finished off my water and took smaller steps and the twinges did not get worse. Back at the groomed tracks we met two Nordic track skiers who though Gus's bark was a wolf coming after them. After apologies we continued down. Those two skiers were the only people we saw all day. Almost total solitude a few miles from a major interstate highway and surrounded by ski areas. I was very happy to make it down without the cramping becoming a serious problem. I only had that problem once last year in 90+ days out and it too was on a steep snowshoe trip. We were back in time to hear the Seahawks lose yet again. The Gold Creek sno-park was a zoo. Cars were parked all the way across the interchange to Hyak. Dozens of them parked right next to the "no parking" signs. We had light snow coming down and it turned to rain as we crossed the pass. It turned out to be a fun day with far more solitude than expected. Photos have been posted at: http://www.hikingnorthwest.com. Go to "Trips-2010" on the left margin.

The drive up FS 9070 is probably not something you'd want to do in the family car right now, but 4x4 was adequate. There is about 6" of snow at the trail head near the PCT at Ollalie Meadow, and 12-18" at the top of Mt Catherine at 5052'. The hike is about 3 miles round trip and 1300' of vertical gain, although it felt like more from pushing through the virgin snow, especially near the top where I played snow plow for the vertically challenged members of the hiking party. Gaiters were a must, but traction wasn't needed. Good fun and beautiful scenery!