Golden Gate Loop, Skyline Trail Loop — Saturday, Jul. 23, 2022

Arrived at the Paradise parking lot at 6:30am. The main lot by the visitors center was almost full already. Decided to combine Golden Gate with Skyline & do it counterclockwise to avoid any traffic jams as it looked like the day would be a crowded one. The snow on the trail didn't start until after the potable water area to the left of the trail. From there on up the trail was compact snow & ice & I'm glad I brought my hiking poles & microspikes. At the top there was intermittent compact ice & snow fields all the way to Panorama Point. Nothing really bad but poles & microspikes really helped & although it got tiresome putting the microspikes on & pulling them off every so often it was well worth it in the end. I had the trail to myself up to Panorama Point & it was there that I started to encounter a steady flow of people heading in the direction I had already been & that flow increased dramatically after passing the turnoff to Pebble Creek which is also the area where there were the sketchiest of conditions. Undermined snow drifts caused quite a backup for unprepared people trying to do the hike in tennis shoes. The rest of the descent was mostly over softer snow that had warmed in the direct sun and the snow persisted almost to where the asphalt trail meets the dirt trail. I started the hike at 6:45am and was back in the parking lot by 10:15am after having been gifted a beautiful day filled with tons of wildlife sightings & wildflowers starting to pop in the areas with no snow. Deer, marmot, chipmunks, and even a couple of goats were on display. I've never seen goats at Paradise before but it was a fantastic surprise! On a final note, while driving out of the park, there was a line of cars stretching from the entrance all the way down to the Copper Creek Inn by about 10:45am on a Saturday morning. I'm so glad I went as early as I did. I've tried to add pics to this report but haven't been successful.