Started late in the afternoon for this trip up the little quilcene trail on Mt. Townsend (around 4PM) and reached the summit by 6. This is a beautiful and very easy climb, just steep and long enough to give you a good workout. The trail is snowy in parts, but easy to follow and mostly dirt (the snow is almost all gone). No axe required. Almost no snow at the top. Pack a good PB&J or a tasty snack and get up this hill for breathtaking views of the (whole) Puget Sound and more. It'll only take you about 40 minutes to get down and once you're bach at the car, you'll wish you lingered on top a bit longer so put on your coat and stay a while.....

Hiked (almost) to Mount Townsend today. The lower reaches of the trail were still melting out from the Friday and Saturday's snow, and while the trail was mostly snow free at that point, it was almost ""raining"" from the melt (and occasional snowball) from the trees above. Once the we broke out of the forest, the trail began to get snowy - much of it was very fresh (lots of post-holing, especially on the way back down), with occasional respites from the snow. We only made it about 3 miles into the hike (stopped just past the silver lakes turnoff) before having to turn back due to time constraints. This one will be repeated (need to get to the top so I can write a trail review).

Roads to trailhead frost and snow covered in patches. The trail from the upper Mt. Townsend trail head has icy patches first 1.5 miles. Then, at about about 2.5 miles from upper trail head it changes to consistent snow, though not very deep, all the way to the top of Townsend. Patches of trail showing through in places. With Jan 27, 2001 conditions trekking poles helpful, snowshoes not needed (until it snows more), maybe bring an ice axe for arrest-- due to some sketchy traverses & switchbacks that may ice over after weekend traffic. Overall, a great hike with awesome views. Beautiful views all the way up.

The road is just drivable to the upper trailhead, but the next snowfall will probably change that. We hiked into the forest on bare ground with a few inches of crunchy snow here and there. Glimpses of blue sky above quickened our pace, and we came to a snowcovered open area at the base of a (avalanche') slope. The trail was visible enough to follow it all the way up on this clear day. Seattle was blocked by low clouds, but the views of the Graywolf spine were splendid. We prolonged our visit there, chatting for a few hours at the saddle below the summit. There were no other parties! We took snowshoes, but didn't need them (if you don't count some off-trail blunderings where they came in handy). Thanks to Jake, Peter and Greg.

Since the weather promised to be beautiful, we set out initially to hike Mount Walker. But as we approached Quilcene, the day was even brighter and we thought we might do Mount Townsend instead, hoping that it wouldn't be too snowy. We stopped at the ranger station, but the ranger didn't have any information about snow on Mount Townsend as there had been no reports. We decided to risk it and drove to the upper trailhead, we saw that someone had remarked on the trail register on Sunday that there was 12 inches of snow at the top, so we realized we probably wouldn't go all the way. We enjoyed the beautiful, well-constructed trail as it switch-backed up the forested slopes, but decided, when we reached the first long patch of very icy snow on a narrow stretch of trail with a considerable drop-off, that we might as well not go further, since we weren't prepared for snow. We turned back about 1.5 miles up, at 4700 feet elevation, thinking that we would still have time for another hike. We were back at the car by 11 a.m. and thought we'd return to our first option and climb Mt. Walker. But when we reached the intersection with road 27, we changed our minds and headed left over Skaar Pass to Mount Zion. I'm glad we did, since it turned out to be a nice change from Walker (which we do so many times each Spring and Fall). We had the place completely to ourselves the whole time. The trail is in excellent condition all the way to the top. Unfortunately, the beautiful weather had disappeared and the entire mountain was enshrouded with fog. As we ate our lunch at the summit, we saw tiny areas of blue above us and by the time we finished eating the sun had come through and we had an amazing view of the tops of the clouds all the way to the Cascades. We took some time then to explore some way trails at the summit, and then took one under the ridge until it ended at a huge rock that must have a stupendous view South and West (but not while we were there!) The hike to Mount Zion is only 1.8 miles up--so it's really too short a hike if you want a full day. But since we did the three miles on Mount Townsend, we felt satisfied after the day's outing.