Trail: No major mud or trail issues. If you’re looking for snow, there’s still some up at the peak, in about the last mile. But it’s very sloppy, slippery snow. The kind that coats your micro spikes, making them useless unless you clear them every ten steps. That combined with the steep incline, it was a bit arduous going up with numerous steps sliding back down and then the descent was excruciatingly slow with many slips. Hiking poles weren’t perfectly helpful either as they often plunged down into the snow on both sides of the narrow foot wide path of compact snow from previous hikers. One step to either side meant postholing at varying depths. But if you’re looking for solitude, this is where you’ll get it. I lost track of how many hikers I encountered to/from the balcony and each view ledge prior had a hiker or two taking selfies. I only encountered one hiker today past the balcony.
Sights: Starting at the trailhead, the usual flowers of trillium, evergreen violets, bleeding heart, salmonberries, flowering currant, and spring beauties were seen in addition to some red baby paintbrush flowers. Caught a photo of a California tortoiseshell butterfly below the balcony. And heard but did not see the grouse mentioned in previous trip reports. Mt Rainier had a layer of fluffy clouds above it today and the unfrozen Lower Granite Lake had a London topaz blue color.
Facilities: Trailhead trash and recycling receptacles were available and vault toilet was stocked with TP and hand sanitizer.
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