muddy but in good shape. flowers look great right now

Arrived at TH at 10:30 Thursday morning. Large parking lot half full. No permit needed for weekdays. Used National Park pass for parking. Trail was intermittently muddy under the canopy but dry once out in the open. Yellow flowers everywhere. Views of the Columbia and mountains beyond were amazing. Not windy at all up at the top. Slipping and sliding on the descent so sticks were a must for me. My daughter did fine without any. Gaia 6.62 miles, 2813 ft ascent.

Steep in several sections. Above the tree line can be cold and windy.

Trail is snow free and some flowers are beginning to appear. Good stiff climb to the summit. 

Sunday, March 3rd, 2024

Trail is in good condition all the way to Puppy Dog Point. There virtually no snow on the trail until you reach the junction where the Difficult and More Difficult Trail rejoin. I used microspikes & hiking poles from that point and up. The snow on the trail is well packed down so could probably manage without them but definitely helpful on the way down.

Above Puppy Dog Point the snow gets deeper (6" - 1'). Lots of postholes but following others' footsteps helped from sinking too deep. I had gaiters which kept the snow out of my boots :).

It was snowing and foggy which made visibility pretty low. The narrow section was a little daunting but not too bad. Snow had certainly filled in previous boot prints. At the junction for the Augspurger Trail, the snow was even a little deeper. It was also sorta soft so treading as lightly as possible kept me on top of the snow.

Once back to Puppy Dog Point, I was able to relax a bit and make my descent. It was so gorgeous up there even though no many views due to the clouds/fog. I took my microspikes off at the same place where I put them on. Smooth sailing the rest of the way down.

Quiet day at Dog Mtn. Only a 4-5 cars when I was there. I saw 5 people on the trail.