The trail is in great shape and with surprisingly little snow on it. It was almost noon before we hit the trail - due to our traditional breakfast out and some confusion as to where the trailhead was. We followed a sign off the main logging road (#27) that said Mt. Townsend Trail 1 mile. This trail head on this road (#2760) is the lower trail head and added 600 feet vertical and 1.2 miles. But it was a delightful woodland walk complete with a little lake - Sink Lake - and a shelter is very good condition - a rarity in the Olympics these days. For the upper trail head stay on route 27 a bit further and take the next left to a dead end at a large parking area with an obvious trailhead.
The trail is clear and dry until about a quarter mile before Windy Camp (~4200') where the snow begins in earnest. It's 2 to 3 feet deep for the next little more than half mile, and soft although not so much that snowshoes would be necessary. Then just as one approaches the ridge top for the long traverse to the summit, the snow disappears. From there to the summit - about a mile - is almost totally snowfree (see picture). This is a great sp;ring hike. Hope you get those great wsummit views rather than our rain, wind and fog.
P.S. The lower part of the trail goes through a native Rhodendron forest, but no flowers yet. They are just blooming down along route 101 in Qullcene.
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