Road: Snow and ice on the majority of the forest road.

TH: SNOW PARK PASS required for this time of year. The road is blocked by ecology blocks about 2 miles before the actual TH. There is a small turn around area but it was clogged with other vehicles. No toilet. I arrived at 0900 on a Tuesday and it was pretty busy with snowmobilers. I saw about 15. I was the only hiker.

Trail: You follow snowmobile tracks for a lot of the beginning portion. The snowmobilers are very polite. When I diverted from snowmobile tracks the snow was light and fluffy and I sunk to about shin deep. There were very old tracks. Views were incredible. 

Got to the designated parking at noon on a Thursday, and there were 3 other cars. 

I had a tough time marking the choices for this one. 

Road suitable to all vehicles...yes, but it's also closed about 2 miles from the summer TH. However, this is much better than the 5 or more miles down the road where they usually locate the Sno-Park! They could have moved the parking even closer. There is only patchy snow for about a mile and half past the parking, where the full snow starts.

Trail conditions--difficult/impossible to navigate, but only if you are trying to follow the summer trail. I was able to proceed in the general direction I needed to go by following a set of ski tracks (thank you!). As popular as this trail is, I was surprised not to see more snowshoe tracks.

Obstacles encountered--difficult stream crossings. I marked this because there were some iffy snow bridges in the wide Rocky Creek riverbed, where the river braids into a bunch of creeks. The riverbed is also where I had to switch from microspikes to snowshoes--partly for the improved weight distribution to cross the snow bridges. I got across OK but not sure how much longer they will last. Also, the spot where the trail leaves the creekbed and enters the woods is not easy to discern. I just happened to notice some flagging, but there weren't really any clear tracks leading into the woods there.

Once you make a final dicey creek crossing and start an ascending traverse to the right, the trail gets easier to follow--although at times there are multiple choices that ultimately lead to the same place. When I got to the saddle, the ski tracks I was following had me end up a few hundred yards to the east of the summer trail, but that was OK, it was all a big beautiful meadow with epic views of the mountain! Since sunset was coming I just enjoyed my sandwich there and started back down instead of trying to get all the way to the top of the butte in the dark. 

On the way back, it was easy to follow my snowshoe tracks (and when I turned back to look at the mountain I got a beautiful view of it in the sunset.) But then, when I got past the point where I had put my snowshoes on, it was difficult to find my boot prints in my fading light. Luckily, I recognized the spot where I had entered the creek bed. Lesson learned to pay attention to your return navigation!

It was full dark by the time I got back to my car, and the stars were out, plus a yellowish planet but I'm not sure which one. Venus?

We parked 2 miles away from the trailhead. 2 miles in January! From one side I was happy not to hike the road 5 miles each way, but from the other side I am concerned as everyone else about lack of snow. 
Road to the trailhead and beyond is groomed and goes very easy. River crossing is nothing to worry about, almost no running water there. Forest section has some signs of postholing and was a bit slippery but we used spikes and didn't have any postholing in the morning. After leaving the trees we headed to the Railroad grade, put snowshoes on and hiked it all the way to the climbers camp. We saw few parties on the mountain going up. At some point I felt some regret not even thinking about climbing Baker when I was planning this trip few days ago. It would have been relatively easy to get it done today and I would have had true winter Baker ascent. Next time then. We took a break enjoying Colfax and Baker views. Then we headed to the lookout. Didn't use summer trail around the final knob and took a direct line, it was steep but doable. At the lookout we took a short break, some photos and headed down. On descent we met few parties which planned to stay there for the night. 
Beautiful day in Paradise!

Most of the drive is fantastic, just the last 1.5 miles on FR13 has a bunch of potholes, but any car can manage. Water crossings were super easy, even in afternoon. Snow starts just before you break out of forest and then is continuous. Post holed up to our knees a couple times but the trail is packed and easy to see/follow. Gorgeous day out in the snow!

The road and lower trail were snow free, and it was snowing lightly when we started our hike. Water was running freely down the trail from the recent rain/snow, and the crossing where the bridge has been removed was a little tricky but very doable. Thank you to whoever placed the pink flags!

The trail became snowy as we ascended, and once we reached the park the snow was 6+ inches deep. The views were absolutely gorgeous, despite not being able to see the mountain through the clouds. Closer to the lookout the snow got much deeper, probably 18 inches in places. We were able to reach the lookout without snowshoes, but pretty soon they will be required. We saw about 8-10 other parties all day.