Parked at the gate. No snow. Walked up to the trailhead and started to climb 2000 ft. in 2 miles. Felt like a really good workout. Snow at the North Viewpoint. No snow at the South Viewpoint.

Parked near the road due to closure of the summit road.  Started around 12:30PM and were back by 6:30PM.  Very few people, though we did hike it on a Monday.  Ordinarily, this hike could be done in much shorter time, but we were hiking with a couple people who were new to hiking.  

The trail was direct, without any intersections, well-marked, and well-maintained. Be careful hiking around this time; a week prior there was knee-high snow for most of the hike.  For us, it was only a few inches and only at the top.

The hike is quite steep throughout.  I don't believe there's any level or downward slope on the way up, just a constant incline.  However, the switchbacks offered good places to rest for the new folks.

The day was amazingly clear, with the summit offering views of basically all the well-known peaks in the Cascades... seriously!  Definitely recommend this hike.

Blog version (disclaimers)

Quick-and-dirty version

Access: Mount Walker Trailhead
Round Trip: 5.5 miles
Elevation Range: 760′-2804′
Gear: microspikes

Approach

1. From the gated NF-2730, hike half a mile to the trailhead.
2. Follow the nice trail up to the north summit.
3. Follow the summit ridge southeastward to the south summit.
4. Hike back to the north summit and hike out.

Highlights

• Lots of sunshine
• Views to South Puget Sound and three volcanoes
• Views to eastern Peninsula high points

Lowlights

• None

Beautiful, short hike for some gorgeous views.  Met an old timer up top who said he climbs this trail about once a week, and he declared this Sunday the best view he's ever seen from the north viewpoint.

The hike itself was icy in significant patches, starting pretty soon after the trailhead.  Thanks to a recent trip report here, I brought spikes, although my companion did not.  He's an experienced hiker, but he was very close to turning back less than half the way up, due to lack of traction—even though he had good hiking boots and poles.  So at least under current conditions, I would highly recommend traction devices of some sort.  With the aid of mine (nothing fancy), I rarely struggled for a good footing.

The hike is pretty steep:  10-20% grade, as advertised, and it's steady:  not a lot of flat patches to give you a breather.  Moderate, overall, especially with poles and good traction on your feet.

Once you reach the north viewpoint and soak in fabulous views of the Olympics in one direction and Rainier in the other (be advised that the viewpoint area itself is fairly confined, so you're likely to be sharing it with others), take the stroll over to the south viewpoint.  This is a very easy walk over compacted snow from previous hikers, and no ice this weekend.

On this clear day, the south viewpoint offered a spectacular vista encompassing Hood Canal below and Mounts Rainier, Adams and St. Helens in the distance.  (The north view was better, though, in my opinion, with a closer view of the jagged, snow covered peaks of Constance and its sisters).

The trail and viewpoints had a fair number of people, no doubt thanks to the gorgeous weather.  At least this day, this was not the trail to find quiet, contemplative solitude.

Largely because my friend didn't have spikes, we took the road down, which was definitely gradual and would make for a much easier, if less interesting, hike up, if that's more your speed.  I think you could go up and down the snow-covered road pretty easily without spikes, if so inclined, but it was relatively boring and went on for a long time (twice the distance of the trail).  There's a good snow-packed trail within the roadbed to follow.

I'd recommend this as a winter half-day hike.  I imagine the presence of cars at the top when the road is open would detract significantly from the experience.

Arrived at the roadside parking area--road to parking lot and lot itself closed in winter--off Hwy 101 around 10 am and it was already quite crowded. No bathrooms at the trailhead but there is a Ranger Station just before on 101 with nice bathrooms, maps and other useful ranger info. Walked the short road to the trailhead with our microspikes on but ended up taking them off once on the trail. Trail was mostly bare with patches of snow until about 1500 ft when the trail became consistently snow/ice covered and we put spikes back on. Steep and steady trail up to the North viewpoint but no issues. Walked along the road on top to the South viewpoint where we rested for a bit. Due to clouds, we missed seeing Rainier, Baker and the other more dramatic mountain peaks but both views were still amazing. Side note: there are bathrooms at the top but I did not check to see if they are open in winter--assuming not.

We took the road down, which was about 4 miles one-way. The road was much snowier but had a good boot path for the most part (I even walked most of the way down without my microspikes because snow was balling up on them and they were bugging me). Our dog loved running around making tracks in the untouched snow! She had a blast. Snow was pretty consistent on the road until close to the bottom, then just patches. The road walk down was a good option for some different scenery, fewer people and a couple extra miles. Although I was glad we did not hike up the road in the deeper snow. 

It was a great day overall. I can only imagine how nice this hike would be in the spring/summer when the rhododendrons are blooming and the sky is totally clear. Although I also can imagine how busy it must get then, considering how busy it was today. This was a new hike for me and I am glad I did it!