Road and Parking: Bare and dry to Bagley Lakes Trailhead. Trailhead was icy. 55 cars at the trailhead when I left at 3:15. If you hike with a dog, don't forget that the Forest Service requires dogs to be on a leash in developed areas which includes trailheads.
Toilet: Stocked with toilet paper. Only a few items of trash left behind by people who were unwilling to pack it out. There is no trash service at this trailhead right now, so the Forest Service is not currently requiring a pass at this trailhead. Lots of dog poop left along the highway route up. Ick.
Trail/Route: You can take the highway grade which is 2.7 miles to Artist Point, or the Wild Goose trail route which is about 1.7 mile. The road was very easy walking. No spikes or snowshoes needed. The trail was more compact than yesterday and there was a solid snowshoe/boot/ski track going up. There are a few braided trails, but they all seemed to rejoin eventually. I took the trail up and wore spikes the whole way to Artist Point, but they weren't necessary for the upper section of the trail. When I got to Artist Point I put on snowshoes for the trip out Artist Ridge to Huntoon Point. There was a solid track out there too, and I saw a few people in just boots who were doing fine. I took the highway back since it was more in the sun, and was glad since there are some really nice icicles between Terminal Lake and the Lake Ann Trailhead that you don't see from the Wild Goose Trail.
Safety: There still isn't enough snow for a large avalanche, but I did see some roller balls, some new rockfall, and a small slide that happened in the past couple of days. All of these were in locations that were under steep rocky areas and are the same locations that become the avalanche terrain when there is more snow. This is a great time of year to look for an avalanche safety course from the Northwest Avalanche Center (free!) if you haven't had one yet.
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