Summary: 8.5 miles, 1000 ft of total gain, bring snowshoes if you want to climb Old Pass Hill, total solitude.
Parking: I opted to park to the opposite side of the highway from the Sno-Park, as that is where the trail - which follows Scotty Creek Road for the first half mile or so - begins. I starting hiking at around 10 AM.
Wenatchee Crest (First three miles): Shockingly good views, fairly flat, and the snow was hard-packed enough that I didn't need snowshoes on the approach. There were faint traces of cross-country skis, as well as a good number of footsteps, indicating that this trail does get pretty good usage.
Climb to Old Pass Hill (Last mile or so): Upon turning left and leaving the roadbed, I immediately started post-holing. I put on my trusty snowshoes, and starting the climb, following the obvious trail through a few patches of slide alder. Frankly, the terrain is fairly open and sufficiently snow-covered that you can traverse it in snowshoes without paying too much attention to route-finding: just head up. I should note that the south-facing side of the ridge is snow-free at places, which might help snowshoe-less hikers bypass some (but not all) of the postholing drudgery. The summit is, amusingly enough, more wooded than most of the approach trail, and thus the views were underwhelming.
Way back: Given how flat the trail is, the hike back wasn't measurably faster than the hike in, and the snow had warmed enough that I decided to keep my snowshoes for a good part of the return trip. As there are a few patches of bare road/trail, I got good at taking my snowshoes on and off.
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