The road is gated at the turnoff to Gold Creek Pond, which appears now to be the standard trailhead for both the Gold Creek Pond loop and the Gold Creek trail. The trail is signed from the parking lot; it branches off the Gold Creek Pond loop on the right after a little bit, so there's no need to walk back to the gate. The road walk is mostly snow-free to the old trailhead, but the old-road section of the trail beyond the old trailhead is increasingly covered with old, lumpy snow, especially as you go farther in. Surprisingly, however, the single-track after the old road is almost snow-free all the way to the riverside and is a very pleasant walk with many blooming trilliums. After that it has long snow-covered sections, and many of the parts without snow are flowing with snowmelt.
I made it through the fourth avalanche clearing, which is a huge open area where the slide must have crossed the river and run up the opposite side. The trail crosses the basin through riverside flats hemmed in by willow thickets, mostly as an ankle-deep stream of icy water. I hoped to reach the bridge over Gold Creek, which must be just beyond the clearing, but I ran out of time and didn't feel like finding my way along yet more snow-covered trail in the woods.
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