This trail is in excellent shape, showing signs of recent care. Aside from a few inches of snow around 5300 ft Camp Windy, the trail is snow free to the twin 6300 ft summits, with patches here & there on north facing slopes. We didn't expect to see wildflowers so early, some were already blooming ; yellow glacier lilies, violets, trillium & wild strawberries to name a few. My friend was on his first hike testing his new day pack & gear; we were happy to experience a beautiful mix of blue skies and swirling misty fog with intermittent views of nearby peaks flecked with snow. This is a great hike we'll be sure to repeat this summer. Upper TH stats; about 8.5 mls RT with 3000 ft gain ....& hurrah, zero bugs or blisters.

Watching the mid-March to late April snow vanish last week from Mt. Townsend's east flanks, and reading weather service forecasts of clearing skies, decided to head for Mt. T on May 1. Was last up Mt. T on President's Day, and there was very little snow then. On May 1, no snow on FR 27 or on the spur road all the way to the upper trailhead. Left the trailhead at 8:10 and reached the south peak at 10:00. One minor blowdown across the trail a few hundred yards fromt the trailhead. Only a few patches of snow on the trail, mainly in the vicinity of Camp Windy. Conditions on the summit were cold, windy and in the clouds--very poor visibility, so stayed there only about 30 minutes. A few 30 second breaks in the clouds revealed part of Mt. Deception, the Needles, Gray Wolf Ridge and Baldy. Gray Wolf and Baldy had very little snow on them, but there was a lot of snow from Walkinshaw south to Mt. Deception. So at least some high country hiking is feasible now in the northeastern, rain-shadow portion of the Olympics. Have included a couple photos taken during fleeting breaks in the clouds, looking westerly from the Mt. Townsend southern summit. One shows Mt. Baldy and Gray Wolf Ridge on May 1. The other shows, in the foreground, the ca. 6400 peak between Copper Creek and the Dungeness River; and in the background, from right to left, Mt. Walkinshaw, the Needles, and Mt. Deception, with its peak obscured by clouds.

No snow on road at Bon Jon Pass. Some snow (but two tire ruts to gravel) and minor rockfalls on road from pass to trailhead. Packed snow and some ice on trail 4,000 to 4,600 ft. Then packed snow to early summit at 6212. Turned around there due to limited visibility. Trail is decent. Not much snow, well-consolidated, no evidence of slides. Enjoy.

After days of viewing very skimpy snow on the east flanks of Mt. Townsend and thinking a President's Day jaunt to Townsend might just work, took off for the trailhead. Took the Penny Road exit off 101 and followed it higher. The snow gate on FR 27 was open, but past it and particularly where the road follows the north side of the ridges, there were significant stretches of ice and compact snow. There was also a stretch of compact snow from FR 27 and along the spur road to the upper trailhead. The spur road has both bare dirt and stretches of compact snow or ice, and on some of these you would not want to meet an oncoming car and have to back up to let them by, or vice versa. Took off from the trailhead at 8:20 and arrived at summit at 10:15. The trail is predominantly clear of snow and ice, but there are many 50 to 100 foot long stretches of ice and hardpack snow that require careful footwork. On our way back down around 11:30, some of the frozen ground and icy patches were melting on the higher southern-exposed sections of trail above the tree-level, but in the shade of the trees, the ice patches remained pretty firm all the way down toward the trailhead. Passed about 4 other parties during our descent. Vehicles in the parking lot included both 4-wheel and 2-wheel drive,so depending on how you handle snow and ice, you didn't need 4-wheel drive to get to the trailhead, but that of course could change with the first snow. Views were superb all the way around, and pretty amazing to have so little snow in February at this altitude. Couple of photos are included, one looking south from the summit toward the Brothers and Constance, the other looking westerly toward the slopes of Mt. Baldy and Gray Wolf Peak, both of which are showing very little snow, although it looks like there might be snow along the east side of the ridge where the Maynard Burn trail goes up toward Baldy.

I haven't been on the lower portion of the Mount Townsend trail for years. Like most hikers, I take the trail from the upper road to save energy. But since I figured we wouldn't make it to the top anyway, I thought it would be a good chance to take the lower trail past Sink Lake. The forest service says this portion of the trail is 1.2 miles, but it feels shorter than that. The elevation is only about 500 feet to the upper road. We were the only people parked at the trailhead and then found only two cars parked at the upper trailhead. Clearly, it would be a good day for solitude. The trail is in excellent shape and we continued upward to around 5100 feet, just before Camp Windy, when the trail became mostly covered in icy snow. I think it probably gets better after Camp Windy, because the mountain looked quite bare nearer the top. I think we hiked around 8 miles round-trip with 2300 feet elevation. I loved the beauty of the surrounding peaks and the sense of winter coming quickly.