Kelly Butte — Sunday, Feb. 22, 2015

Mount Rainier Area > Chinook Pass - Hwy 410

Well we came to this trail under-prepared...we had no idea there was going to be snow! We couldn't make it all the way to the trailhead in our Honda Civic due to the icy snow (and deep ruts/pot holes) on parts of the dirt access road further up. You could have made it in a Subaru, or anything with 4 wheel drive. We found a good place to pull over and park on the access road and hiked about 2 miles to the trailhead. Along the way there is intermittent snow but very doable without special gear. I would highly recommend ski poles, however. One we got to the trailhead, the trail is only 1.7 miles to the top but the switch backs were very narrow and slippery. Be careful -- this is where ski poles would come in handy (which of course we didn't bring...). Once at the top, the snow is deep, maybe a couple feet, but it wasn't fresh snow. There was already a path made from previous hikers so it made it easy to follow their steps. Overall the views were SPECTACULAR!! It was bright and sunny, a perfect PNW day. Bring warm clothes for the top though - that wind has a bite!