This was my first time on this trail and my first snowshoe of the year. We parked just off the road due to snow making the last 1/4 mile or so to the trailhead more challenging than desired--and we didn't know what the parking area at the trailhead is like anyway so best to place it safe. We were among the first to snowshoe on this day. A few of us were new to snowshoeing so we only went about two miles in. There were a few blowdowns that were relatively easy to navigate (especially compared to Mt Defiance a few weeks ago.) The trail is narrow at times and it is easy to find yourself knee deep in the snow. There are also a significant creek crossing via log that required a bit of skill but nothing too bad. It was a beautiful day and nice trail to start the season. Note that the GPS coordinates for the trailhead are incorrect but the written directions are accurate.

Note: 2015 is an absurdly low snow year. Ordinarily, I'm not sure you could even make the 1/4 mile drive to the trailhead in a street vehicle. Drive across a bridge and the tracks (very busy -- watch for trains) and turn right; drive 1/4 mile. Note that this trail has considerable avalanche exposure (do I recall a fatality here long ago?) -- half-a-dozen chutes reach/cross the trail. They don't show on the Green Trails map, but look at the satellite views and they're obvious. Avy danger was zero this weekend. www.nwac.us There are 3-4 logs up to 2' dia; not serious obstacles. At least first mile of trail is snow-free. Much compact snow/ice on trail; microspikes advised. I wore crampons for much of the way to beyond Glacier Lake, where the snowshoe trail ended. If you do this, please don't step on live roots or wooden trail structures, which will not take much of this abuse. Snowshoed to Surprise Gap and then east up the crest of the ridge to Peak 6594. Avalanche danger low, although the 3" recent snow tended to slide on the south slopes in late afternoon after it thawed in the sun. The north-facing bowl below Surprise Gap did not thaw. If the snow in this bowl is hard, and esp. if there are expose rocks below, you might want an ice ax. Beckey says this peak is unnamed. Being opposite Surprise Mtn., I'm calling it Tedium Peak. It is higher than Surprise and Thunder, and offers an excellent view, better than Surprise (it blocks the view east from Surprise).

We got a later start and were at the trailhead by about 11:30am. The trail had snow (6+ inches on the trail and 2-3 feet along the trail) and we used snowshoes the entire time. The trail was very easy to follow so we had no trouble navigating, and we only encountered two other groups the whole day. The trail has great views of the creek, forest, and surrounding valley. Our dog had a great time in the snow, but we did have him leashed for most of the trip because we didn't want him trying to cross the streams without us. There are quite a few stream crossing, most of them are very easy to do with snowshoes, but there are 2-3 crossings that rely on a downed tree. These crossings were still manageable with snowshoes but do require a little focus! We turned around at about 4 miles and were back at our car shortly before 3pm. We had a great time and great weather, and we definitely plan on going snowshoeing here again!

We parked by the railroad tracks and wore our microspikes for the first 3 miles or so before switching to snowshoes. The snow started out very hard packed and icy and there were two sketchy creek crossings where other groups turned around. Both crossing involved walking across a narrow, icy snow covered log but we felt comfortable crossing them with our microspikes on. It was a little confusing trying to stay on the trail with all of the cross country ski tracks and we went a little off trail a couple times but we were able to find the lake using our GPS. We had clear blue skies and the lake was frozen over and beautiful in the sunshine. The snow was about 3-4ft deep, a few more feet of snow and avalanche danger would most likely be a concern. We saw a couple mini avalanches about halfway to the lake.