Big Creek — Wednesday, Dec. 7, 2022

Earlier trip report prompted me to pack my bigger pack with the “49 essentials” and give it a go! I am used to hiking this trail in a lot of mud so today was a beautiful and pleasant surprise. I opted to forego snowshoes for micro spikes as broken trail was narrow and compacted, it was the correct choice. Low clouds with a few sun breaks, no wind or rain. Only a few hikers, the ones I met were from Utah, Idaho, Georgia, and Tennessee and they all LOVED it.
I hiked clockwise to the loop juncture and turned around. Another hiker told me he had to turn around on the loop when he encountered a tree he could not pass. Another hiker said he made it to the Ellinor viewpoint with no problem, he was also using micro spikes and poles. There was small debris on the trail from wind but nothing that I couldn’t get around.