We arrived at the North Chuckanut Trailhead about 1:30pm. We prefer to use Arroyo Park, but the replacement of the bridge over Chuckanut Creek has still not begun after more than a year. The parking areas were full.
As we started up the trail, everyone else was headed down. Any wooden part of the trail was covered with compact snow and ice, but otherwise there was very little snow left until we got "on top", where there were still several inches. Waterfalls and seasonal streams were frequent.
The first stretch is a good climb. It was mostly well drained except for a section that was washed out. A few windfalls gave an excuse to pause the pace. We met several hikers, a few with a dog, none of which were on leash.
Once the climbing was done and we were on the flatter part of the route, the path was snow and slush covered, with many muddy places as well. This section has always had drainage problems, as the old logging road succumbs to landslides and sagging. It was worse with the melting snow. We saw no one else, though there were many footprints. Several windfalls blocked the trail. A few were quite bad. Large columns of ice had fallen from the rock formations nearby, making an interesting but easy obstacle course.
The side path to Lost Lake was less traveled. The lake was mostly ice covered yet. The waterfall was flowing strongly. There was not really any ice around it, just snow.
Part way on the return trip, we donned headlamps to see better footing through the mud and obstacles.
We returned to an empty parking lot after about 4 hours and about 10 miles.
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