Just a quick hike this AM trying to beat the new weather system rolling in. I reached the trailhead at 9am, and counted only 6 other vehicles in the parking lot. It was cool but mild, and although the skies were very dark it hadn't yet begun raining. There were only small patches of snow in the woods here and there at first, but about a half mile in it began encroaching on the trail, and after the stream crossings the trail became snow covered. I elected to put on my spikes and gaiters at that point because I knew it would only get worse. Up until reaching the side trail that goes up to the falls it was just compacted snow, easy to do without spikes. That changed on the way up to the falls. The staircases are all buried in snow and the trail was pretty slick as it cut through almost a foot of snow. Since I had my gear on already I had little trouble, but a few other hikers I passed lacked traction devices and were having a hard time of it.
I had the upper falls to myself for a few minutes, and on the way back down I checked out the lower falls as well like I normally do. There were a few parties headed up to Lake Serene, and they wisely had spikes and poles. As I descended the trail it started getting busy with uphill traffic, and by the time I was back at the trailhead around 11:30am there were 30+ cars in the lot. My timing was pretty good as it started raining just as I finished throwing my gear in my vehicle and headed out of there.
P.S. I see today was a free state parks pass day. Lucky for me because I forgot to hang my Discover Pass in my vehicle. Oops...
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