A Merry Christmas was had by all - us 6 Mountaineers had the hut to ourselves Xmas Eve, and were part of a full house on Xmas night. The road to the upper Sno-Park had snow on it when we left today.
The trail to the hut was mixed snow, ice and bare ground until about 2 miles in, at which time it became consistent snow. At the turnoff to the hut, the snow got deeper, though there were many tracks coming and going, and we did not need snowshoes. This could be obsolete by tonight, as it was snowing big, fat, wonderful flakes, which were sticking in the trees and on the ground, obscuring past tracks. So, I'd suggest bringing snowshoes.
We also packed in a ton of goodies - gluten free cookies, Dilettante chocolate covered Rainier cherries, spicy hot cocoa, a bag of red wine and more, some of which are still there. Enjoy if there's anything left! We brought Rummy tiles, Scrabble and card games, but spent most of the first evening doing a 1000pc puzzle. It was a beautiful starry night with a crescent moon.
Christmas day, we left the hut at 8:30 for the 13-mi/2800ft round trip to Puyallup Ridge Lookout. It is all on FS roads, but some roads branch off, so a map will be helpful here. The road, now snow-covered, goes up originally, but then roller-coasters for the rest of the hike. We broke trail using snowshoes, though the new snowfall will probably wipe out our tracks. It was hard work! We could see the lookout from about 4mi away, but we were still a long way off. We reached the lookout in a snowstorm, had lunch, took turns climbing the first flight of stairs for photos (we'd read mixed reports of recent work parties and sketchy stairs and platforms), and started back at around 1pm. We were back at the hut by 4:30, but, man, it feels like that trail goes uphill both ways. (It gains about 1700 on the way there and 1100 on the return.) The lookout was super cool! On a clear day, you could probably see Mount Tahoma from several spots on the trail and from the lookout itself. We were fried, but we geared up for some interesting conversations with the folks who'd come up for the night.
Of note, when there is a full hut of hikers, skiers and snowshoers, the upstairs bunk room gets warm and stinky. I had stomach issues and slept downstairs for easy access to the outhouse, but members of our group reported back about the temperature and the smells. Also, we brought 10 pairs of ear plugs because my partner snores. There were at least 4 people snoring away!
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