The lot was mostly full when I arrived at 9:30am. I thought I could avoid the teaming crowds of summer in January but I didn’t factor in 1) a rare sunny winter day, and 2) new years resolutions. So I joined a large number of my PNW neighbors and hiked the two miles to the ledge in what felt a lot like driving through downtown at rush hour.
There are quite a few trees across the trail from recent winds. All but two were easy to step over or go under, but those two required stepping off the trail to step over the trees.
I went straight to the second ledge to admire the view and as soon as I stepped out onto the rocks a gust of wind blew my favorite hat off my head and down the slope behind me. Luckily it landed about twelve feet below me and it was safe to climb down and retrieve it, along with several plastic water bottles, a beer can, and a granola bar wrapper, which I like to believe also blew (rather than being thrown) off the ledge.
After the ledges, the trail feels more like my kind of hike - pine needles and quiet and a higher nature-to-humans ratio. I never walked on the logging road mentioned in the description although I think I crossed it a few times.
About a mile after the ledges, the first packed snow appears intermittently on the trail. It’s pretty constant for the final three quarters of a mile to east peak. I was fine in trail runners but glad to have poles. The snow was definitely a bit slippery coming down.
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