We snowshed from Silver Fir ski lodge to a view point passed the Warming Hut and Rockdale Lake. Parked in the parking lot of Snoqualmie Silver Fir ski lift and had to pay 60$ for parking. We were shocked, but this was our plan, so we paid. It was warm outside and needed the snowshoes. Very slushy. Followed the blue diamonds on the trees. Lost them a few times, but found them later. Beautiful day

Snowshoed at Hyak. Beautiful, snowy day. Started behind Silver Fir parking lot. We used previous tracks on gaia and followed boot path. The trees are eventually marked with blue diamonds, but it’s hard to see them due to snow. Mostly used gaia to orient ourselves. There were very few people snowshoeing or backcountry skiing. Perfect snow day.

We did a summer version which let us ascend from Silver fir up underneath that chair, then we worked our way over to the big interesection with the warming hut.  We then made our way to the old ATV track that goes up to Nordic Pass.  At that point we decided to enjoy the warmth and keep going.  So we followed the trail down to Windy pass.  Note, half that short distance is obvious, the other half is badly overgrown.  But once on the road, we went north a bit, caught the PCT and after Olallie meadows (gorgeous) went up to Rockdale creek and turned east, uphill to regain our old route.  We didn't see any wildlife, only 1 other hiker, and it was gorgeous 

TLDR: Mostly firm following the snowshoe path to Hyak. Past that, the Nordic Pass trail is nearly untraveled and I’d recommend you be comfortable with route finding to continue onward. The snow’s soft and unconsolidated in parts, causing you to slide on steeper grades, but overall a delight.

What a brilliant nordic system. I rarely see trail reports so I was unsure about the conditions given the recent warmer weather. Armed with both microspikes and snowshoes, I set off on a sunny Tuesday to explore the trails, aiming for Hyak + Rockdale Lake.

I parked in the nearly empty parking lot at Silver Fir Lodge, and on the left side of the building, found the snow ramp leading to the trails. Once I saw the chair lift, I turned left to follow the snowshoe prints up the road. Yellow snowshoe signs appeared, and I put mine on soon after because the snow was feeling soft. The path to Hyak was well defined by previous users, but blissfully quiet as I wove my way through the forest.

After a brief stop at Hyak Lake, I continued onward to Rockdale Lake by following the blue diamond markers for the Nordic Pass. The markers were sporadic at times, and the path untraveled, so I had my fun breaking trail. It was deep and unconsolidated at parts, but otherwise easy to stay atop of.

I popped out of the forest to cross groomed ski trails a few times before connecting with the Mount Catherine Loop (orange markers) back to Hyak Lake. The views at Grand Junction were expansive on this clear day, and made for a good snack break before I dipped back into the woods and to the lodge.

I traveled about 6 miles in total, and throughly enjoyed the quiet + fresh snow on the trails. Onward to Surveyors Lake next time!

My first snowshoeing trip of this winter.

Seven of us snowshoed from Silver Fir Lodge to Hyak Lake, Surveyors Lake and back. The weather was mostly sunny and the temperature was in low 40s in the forest and high 40s in the sun. The snow in lower elevation was hard packed. The snow at Hyak Lake and above was soft new snow. It was a good day for snowshoeing considering this year's low snow conditions. We didn’t see very many people. We saw three cross country skiers in higher elevation and two snowshoers in lower elevation when we were descending in the afternoon.