We were the first at the trailhead this morning and started hiking at 7:40. The road up had only small patches of snow in the last part before the trailhead, but the bigger concern was the huge rocks that are embedded in the road. Take it slow. There are a couple of sketchy sections and a higher clearance vehicle makes this easier.
My car showed the temp at 24 degrees just before we arrived at the trailhead. Boy, was it cold, but the temp rose to a less face-numbing temperature shortly after sunrise.
The trail was fairly well-covered with the trace to 2" that the NOAA snow coverage map showed. Up at Grand Park itself, I measured about 3" in the morning. Snow was nice and dry/sticky and we hiked the trail (both up and down) without the spikes we carried. There were even nordic ski tracks up at Grand Park. Brilliant.
Lunch was at the viewpoint overlooking the west fork of the White River/Winthrop Glacier. We took a rare 50 minutes to have lunch, but had brought the backpacking stove and enjoyed a hot, rehydrated freeze-dried lunch in the cold weather.
At this point we'd only seen one hiker who had caught us and took our picture (thanks, kind stranger!) but on the return trip we counted 19 hikers/trail runners. The first meadow we'd encountered early in the morning had melted quite a bit in the sun.
When we returned, there were 9 other vehicles, 5 parked alongside the road past the trailhead, as the lot only holds 5 (6 if vehicles are small and drivers extra courteous).
Temp at the lot when we returned just before 2pm was 32 degrees. All previously reported mud was frozen solid. Total distance was 9.6 to the viewpoint on the Northern Loop Trail, vertical feet was 1389 as reported by Gaia.
TIP: We picked up a rock on the way down in our front disc brakes, which made a horrendous noise. After repeatedly braking, getting out, inspecting wheels, cursing the heavens, what finally worked was putting the car in reverse and backing up a foot or so. Heard a clink, and rock was thankfully dislodged! (Just in case this ever happens to you on a Forest Service road.)
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