Trailhead
I arrived at the parking lot at 7am. One other car pulled in behind me as I arrived. Plenty of parking(paved lot) There is one porta-potty at the trail-head, it was just serviced so it's clean and stocked with tp.
Lower trail
I actually missed the trail sign on the lower portion of this trail and ended up going a much steeper route halfway up the butte. It's faster by mileage but extremely steep and spikes are needed.
There is snow the entire way. It's about 1-2 inches of light powder on the lower half of the mountain.
Upper Trail
The final 1.5 miles of this trail are pretty smooth sailing. The snow does get deeper towards the top (4 inches max) I had gaiters and used spikes for traction Snowshoes not needed. The snow is very dry powder the entire way.
On my way up I was passed by one jogger.
Summit
I had the summit to myself, and while the towers at the top don't make for the most scenic summit, the views more than make up for it.
Descent
On the way back down I encountered two other hikers going up. Over all a very quiet day on trail in terms of crowds. Only a few cars in the lot when I returned(some were doing the riverside trail and not the butte)
Spikes were most helpful on the way down as the hard frozen ground combined with very powdery snow made grip not ideal, especially on some of the steeper grades.
Overall really beautiful hike, the whole area in winter is stunning.
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