We purchased an overnight permit to car camp at Heather Meadows on Friday evening. Traffic getting up north after work was awful, (as expected), and it took us about 4.5 hours. We arrived around 8:30 pm. The road was completely dry, with some snow pushed to the sides. Any car can make it right now. The two vault toilets at the lot were stocked with TP, fairly clean and had heaters that were not turned on.
It was pretty cold, the lowest it got that my watch recorded was 27 degrees in the middle of the night. The stars were so amazing, it was a crystal clear night.
We woke up early to start our hike for sunrise. A phenomenal sunrise, pinks, blues, oranges galore. We stuck around at the summit for awhile because the wind wasn't bad. We watched the sun pop over Shuksan.
Starting early is key if you want to avoid crowds and have the best snow conditions. The avy danger today was moderate, so being mindful of start times/having the knowledge to assess potential danger depending on where you are trekking is important. We wore spikes, left the snowshoes in the Jeep. Lots of others wearing snowshoes, but the trail was very hard and icy early in the morning. Snowshoes might be a better option starting later in the day as the sun makes it all slushy.
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