Big Creek — Sunday, Jan. 1, 2023

Best way to ring in the new year, by hiking an old favorite. It has just enough of a climb to remind you you're alive, but not enough to make you wonder why you chose this trail. With the campground closed you have to park along the road or try to squeeze into the tiny parking area in front of the gate. The campground bathrooms are also closed so plan accordingly. And please don't be like the people that thought it was ok to just leave their TP three feet off the trail on top of the ground. Come on! Pack it in, pack it out, dig a hole or get a Kula cloth, don't be a jerk. End rant. We chose a counter clockwise route and the snow started about two miles in, just before the Troll Bridge. It was packed down but soft enough that we were ok with just boots and poles, didn't need to use our microspikes. The snow was intermittently along the trail until we got closer to the confluence area, then it was solid snow, but easy to hike on. Some of the bridges required balancing on a ridge of snow to cross, or try to straddle it but all quite manageable. The hike down from the junction to the viewpoint/Ellinor connector was easy going with the snow ending a quarter mile down, or less. The trail was in great condition thanks to the hard work of trail crews.