I decided to see what the conditions on Sauk were like since the last report was over a month ago. I was able to drive within 1 mile of the trailhead. I hopped out and hiked up from there. Snow covers the road along with various downed trees making it impossible to drive pass the 1 mile mark.  The parking lot was completely covered in snow and it was post-holing for the last 1/2 mile or so. Any attempt to go up short of when the snow is hard would be futile. I stayed in the parking lot and enjoyed the views for awhile before heading down. On a positive mark, you can glissade down part of the way which was fun!

Trailhead access road is impassable due to snow at 3500ft approximately 2 miles along the road from the trailhead parking area. I didn’t set foot on the summer trail but scrambled up a creek gulley to get a better look at the West face of the mtn. There were some recent wet loose avalanches and still significant snow on the summer trail that will continue to be an avalanche risk until it melts out.

Explored up towards the trail head. Reach 3800' before encountering constant snow over roadway. Traveling solo and was approaching 4 pm after driving up from Seattle for a few days in the North Cascades, so decided to turn around once we reached a viewpoint. If you are with a buddy-car that can yank you or have a winch, feel confident about pushing on. Definitely felt like I could go further, but since I wasn't planning on hiking the trail, risk:reward was to high. El Nino Winter has it looking like May out there... kind of sad. Did not reach the area of the big boulder mentioned in the previous trip report from Nov. 5th last year. Possibly still there.

Road does cross some avy chutes. This winter... no problem. But in future high snow pack winters be cautious.

Swung by Rockport State Park on the way back before heading up to the NCNP to see the Diablo Lake Vista Point. The cleanest public bathrooms I have EVER seen. Amazing!

I have all wheel drive in a Mercury Mariner with all weather tires and we didn’t make it to the trailhead. At a switchback 0.7 miles from the trailhead, my car got stuck. We got out to check out the situation and it was basically ice coated snow. Backed out VERY CAREFULLY!

A little bit downhill from that spot, there were spots one could pull over and ditch the car and hike to the trailhead, though. Must have spikes to walk on that ice tho!

Road is clear, as all the snow has melted, but there are a few new boulders that have tumbled onto the road. One near the last switchback had me wondering for a minute if I could squeeze by, but it ended up being ok for my Bronco Sport with careful maneuvering. A handful of smaller but sizable rocks littered the road, and I moved a few to the sides to avoid scraping the bottom. The trail itself also took a bit of a beating with the recent snow and heavy rains. A lot of debris from rock and mud flow, and sections that had chunks taken out of them. Otherwise it was a cloudy but lovely day out there!