From upper Hyak parking lot, we set out around 8:15 and followed the ski trails up to eventually gain the Nordic Pass Trail and followed the blue diamonds on the trees to Nordic Pass. Several inches of fresh snow covered the formally-groomed ski trails and we were breaking our own trail up to Nordic Pass. At the pass we passed some cliffs and steep slopes on Mt. Catherine to our left and then began to head up to gain the west ridge. As we went up we stayed a bit to the right to avoid steeper and open slopes of deeper snow to our left, following the most inviting terrain. We soon got to where the summer trail normally is and from here we stayed atop the ridge and climbed it up to the east. The maps sometimes showed the summer trail stay more to the right, but we were able to easily stay atop the ridge. Just before the summit there was a brief but pretty steep slope we had to cross. We got out our ice axes and I faced in and side-stepped across to break the trail. We reached the summit a little before 1pm.

On the descent we followed the ridge back to where the summer trail switchbacks away from the ridge, and headed straight down the mountainside down past all switchbacks of the summer trail, then followed the last bit of the summer trail to the summer trailhead on Road 9070. We then did the long 5 or so mile trek out Cold Creek on Road 9070 back to Hyak to complete the loop, returning at 4:20pm.

GPS track: https://www.gaiagps.com/public/FyBb5derFplYKfcNVKA9rPh6

Parking: I parked halfway on the dirt road to Annette Lake Trailhead. The road is still in bad shape, potholed and hard snow-covered. No cars made to the parking lot when I started at 9AM, but when I came back before 6PM I found a lone high-clearance vehicle there.

Route: My route to Mount Catherine always starts from Annette Lake TH. I especially like it because I can do a loop instead of a monotonous in-and-out. In snow season, I go off trail right after the switchback section and just climb due east. Interestingly there were 2 ski groups who planned to ski down from the bowl under Silver Peak. They opted to go off, with their skis on, before the switchback. I am curious if they were successful or not because I did not see them when I stepped on Olallie Meadow XC area. I did not follow the summer trail to Catherine which is actually a much steeper climb in deep snow condition. The GPS map clearly shows that a direct climb off the XC road to gain the ridge is not only shorter but less inclined. Still it was a touch climb with snowshoes. I wished I had two ice axes with me. On the ridge there was a different problem, the raining "snow bombs". Often times I had to stop and looked up first, then walked gingerly in a center line between trees.

I finally topped the rocky outcrop at 2PM, one-way mileage 5.75. My return route was to follow PCT then to the Iron Horse State Park trail which eventually intersects with Annette Lake Trail.

Snow Condition: Annette Lake trail is snow-covered but packed down well. There were a few bare spots in the first half mile but I put on microspikes from the start. It was an epic snow season for sure. I switched to snowshoes when I went off the trail, and I did not take them off until I came down from Mount Catherine. In the warm afternoon, snow became slushy yet still deep and made my return trip almost as hard as climb. Snowshoes kept sliding me down the tracks I opened early. By the time I reached Olallie Meadow I was so exhausted with snowshoes that I switched back to microspikes. PCT was deep under snow and I had zero interest to open a fresh track on it with snowshoes. I just walked on the flat XC ski road.

Navigation: I used both GPS and compass. GPS is decisively useful on snow fields when I need to identify where exactly I am relative to a main trail. Then I use compass to guide me to close in on the trail.

Gear: I also packed crampons in my bag but never used them. Snowshoes and ice axe did most walking and climbing. I usually don't pack hiking poles with me if I carry ice axe. Also, I had waterproof shoes, pants and gloves, in addition to gaiters.

I have to admit that this trail was not my first choice for a snowventure; but after failing to find parking at Alpental and near Gold Creek sno-park, this turned into a fantastic Plan C. I found this trail on Gaia when I parked in the Silver Fir overflow parking lot at 9:30am, and I walked over to the Silver Fir chair lift and Hyak-to-Central Connector ski trail to connect with the Nordic Pass Trail. There was a boot path as well as blue diamond blazers marking the trail through tall, snow covered conifers for several miles, allowing me to keep my eyes on the scenery instead of on my phone/topo maps. The grade is relatively easy and the powder was as clean and corny as it gets. Like the other trip reports mention, there are no substantial views on this trek, but the quiet landscape and the trees amongst the clouds and haze were surreal. I only came across a handful of shoe-ers along the path between Silver Fir and Hyak Lake, and I didn't see/hear a person between the last XC ski trail crossing and Nordic Pass.

At the pass, I coincidentally met a couple of climbers about to ascend Mount Catherine and followed them up the west slope for a solid hour. Caltopo/Gaia topo maps show moderately sloped terrain up to a ridge that seems easy to traverse, but the avalanche forecast called for considerable avy conditions and we found it pretty quickly. With the deep new snow and the steep micro-terrain features, the top layer was borderline unstable/faulty and we called it a little above 4200' (for scale, Nordic Pass is at 4000' and it took an hour to climb 200' vertical feet. There is a lot of snow up there). It was the safer judgement call and I'm glad I was with people more experienced than me to make that call. The clouds parted on the way back down and we saw a soaring bald eagle and a nice view of the valley, so that's pretty neat. I said my good-byes back at the pass and made a bee line for Rockdale Lake and the Grand Junction Warming Hut before walking back down to Hyak Lake and Silver Fir lift.

I was surprised by how much I loved this experience. To me, the best part about snowshoeing is sauntering through deep snow and thick trees to get to interesting spots in the backcountry. While this area isn't technically remote, you can definitely find some areas not frequently traveled. The relatively flat terrain near XC ski trails here allows you to experience some solitude without being too far from a bailout point and without navigating avy terrain. 

Road to the trailhead is closed for the winter as of 11/26/2020

We met up with friends Saturday morning at Hyak Sno-Park and were planning on hiking Mt Catherine. Right when we pulled up, there was a deep tire track in the snow. We drove up maybe 0.15 miles and opted to back out of the road. Our car was in the lead, we drive a Tacoma, and had our friends RAV4 and Subaru following. Our Tacoma was scraping the top of the snow in between the tracks, so we knew the other 2 cars were probably fairing worse than us. As we backed out, we saw a Jeep coming down the road, not sure how far they drove up. Wish I took better photos, but here is a clip from the video I took while we were backing out of the road. We did not hike this trail. the road is in rough shape with all the snow and we did not want to get stuck.