We so glad we decided to chance the downpours and climb Mount Walker today! We had beautiful weather the entire way up; bright blue skies could be seen through the snow covered trees. We did wear snow tracks over shoes and we were glad we had done so. They really helped with traction both on the way up and down. The trip up was a steady climb in soft, powdery snow. We were thankful the one party that was ahead of us on the trail had to pack down the snow and made a nice trail for us. The view at the top was stunning! The trip down was slippery and slushy. It also seemed unending as we went down, down, and down some more! It ended up being a full day for a beautiful hike. We stayed dry entire trip. We will do it again when the rhododendrons are in bloom.

Every year Crew Chief Mace leads a fun "Gravy Burner" WTA team to work on this steep trail the day after Thanksgiving. Thanks to recent storms, there were indeed several downed trees we took care of. In the 3min video of highlights below, I tried to capture typical scenes of a trail crew day: intro by Mace at trailhead, teaching on site by asst crew chief Jim, using a cross saw, using an axe, tying a bowline knot to drag a log off the trail, having lunch and finally gathering at the cars afterwards. A fun, productive day!

We - WTA crew cut the trees that were on the trail and did some brush and drainage work. A very good day.

Arrived at the Mt. Walker road to park and walk in to the trailhead...only a few cars when we arrived. It was a great day for the hike...clear, sunny, and brisk temp. The trail was pretty quiet in the morning with only a few descending hikers. About halfway up a small tree had fallen across the trail, but no other obstacles along the way. We arrived the North observation point and didn't hesitate to go to the South viewing area. The vista was great and the sun shining made a warm midday break! The route down was more crowded with frequent and larger groups (3+) ascending. The biggest drawback of the trip was the parking situation at the forest service gate. It was crowded and cars parked along both sides of the main road (101 South). We arrived back to our car only to find another car parked within inches of our front bumber...the lack of trail etiquette of the other driver was very frustrating. Other than the parking situation (also a safety concern) it was overall a good day hike.

Trail is in great shape: one log down that was easy to step over or around, and a few slightly muddy patches. Hardly anyone on the mountain (saw a total of four others) on what turned out to be a really nice late October evening. Not much in the way of views from the top due to the low cloud deck, but still a really nice hike!