Icicle Ridge — Saturday, Jan. 20, 2018

I searched all over the state this weekend for where it would be driest with forecasted rain for all of western Washington. Of course over the mountains always looks better, so we opted to look in the Leavenworth area. It makes for a long day coming in Seattle, but totally worth it for a day of sunshine. We chose this hike as no one in my group had done it before. It is easy to get to, not far off of highway 2. There wern't many cars when we got there at 10:30 or so. The trail has compact snow from the beginning. No snowshoes needed, but would be helpful to bring microspikes. The trail switchbacks up the mountain gently. We ended up getting perfect sunshine and blue skies. Just before the top there is a nice resting area where we ate lunch with some stumps to sit on. The top is windy, so this is a nice place to rest. Once at the top the views of the surrounding snow covered peaks are stunning and views of all of Leavenworth. Such a nice hike to be able to get out and enjoy some sunshine in the middle of winter.