This is such a sweet little trail! It's a great option if you want something similar to Park Butte but shorter and a little bit easier. I think the Park Butte trail has better footing, though. Lots of rocks and roots on this trail.
We started up at 2pm in hopes of seeing a decent sunset. That was somewhat of a bust, but at least the mountains were all out this time! The trail was frozen from the start and snow began once you reached the meadows and tarns. It was frozen and crunchy but Willow still had a blast playing. The tarns are all frozen as well. We didn't make it all the way to the top because we felt a little uncomfortable on the steep snowy slopes and the existing bootprints appeared to be climbing straight up the hill, which we didn't want to do. I think we probably turned around somewhere near the split between the switchbacks and steeper climb to the summit, since my watch said 2.05 miles. We put our traction on for the hike back down in the dark. It took us 3 hours total, with a fair amount of time stopped for taking pictures. Overall, it was a lovely afternoon!
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