Snow (and a downed tree) currently prevent vehicles from reaching all the way to the upper trailhead, and it was rumored that access to the lower trailhead also had problems. But it's an easy 1-mile road walk from the point where you have to give up driving and park. The trail is completely snow-covered all the way from the trailhead on up. Rather than follow the (buried) trail as it switchbacks up to Camp Windy, we struck out straight up the steep snow-covered hillside. Conditions were good for kicking in steps, and we made good progress. The top couple inches were only lightly bonded to the snowpack, and in the steepest portions we did set some small pinwheels rolling. Due to clouds we never had any real views, either on the way up or down, or at the summit, but we reached the summit without any problems and in good time. We had lunch at the top, and then plunge-stepped back down the way we came. About 6 hours round-trip, with 3000 feet of gain.

I figured, looking at the weather for the last few weeks, that we would hike to at least where the Silver Lakes Trail splits from the Townsend summit trail before we encountered snow. The trailhead is at 3250’ ASL and I didn’t think there’d be snow until 4000’ to 5000’. Long before we ever got near the trailhead, on Forest Service Road 27, the Jeep was sloshing through slushy and sometimes deep snow. Several miles before the trailhead we were stopped by a large tree across the road. It looked like several had fallen when the hillside slid, and had been cleared by someone with a chainsaw. Why did they leave this one? We figure the hillside had slid again and downed this one after the others had been removed. We had the tools to clear the tree, but it sure looked like a lot of work. Kevin grabbed the saw and I started swinging the axe while Maggie cheered us on. Kevin, who has experience in these sorts of things, figured out a way to use the tree’s position and weight to help us, so we started cutting through near the base with the idea that the weight of the rest of the tree overhanging off the far side of the road would cause it to lift and maybe clear itself. In other words, we might only need to make one cut. It was a great plan with great execution but the tree didn’t cooperate so we still ended up making two cuts. The whole process took us about an hour and we were on our way again. As we climbed higher the snow became deeper….and deeper….and deeper. There were tire tracks in the snow but they were almost gone under the new snow that had fallen, and was currently falling. Since my whole reason for being out this day was to hike and snowshoe in the falling snow, the plan seemed to be coming together. The Traction Control light on the dash cluster told me the Jeep’s QuadraDrive system was working like it was supposed to, but we were still sliding around a bit and having some trouble trying to keep from getting sucked off the road and into the ditch. At a certain point the road splits, one way goes to the Mt. Townsend lower trailhead, and the other to the upper trailhead. I stopped to assess the situation. Should we keep driving and try to make it to the trailhead or stop here? I knew the snow was deep enough that the skid-plates under the Jeep were rubbing, but wasn’t sure how badly and I didn’t want to get stuck or slide right off the road. We decided to park about 100’ back down the road where there was a pull-out in case someone with more clearance wanted to get past. I tried to get the Jeep turned around but it kept getting stuck, high centered on the snow. After a lot of forward and back, a little bit of digging, and some pushing, we got the rig out and parked. [N47 51.429 W123 00.460 elevation: 2916'] We shoed up started up the road, passing the sign that says it’s one mile to the trailhead. Because we were on the Forest Service road, we could walk three abreast and easily carry on a conversation. The snow was falling very hard and the wind would whip up from time to time so that the snow was blowing sideways. Before long we came to another sign that said it’s one mile to the trailhead. Hey, wait a minute! After further reflection we figured it out. The previous sign meant one mile to the lower trailhead. So on we went, the snow getting deeper, one (more) mile to go. As the snow got deeper though, it was much more laborious to make progress. We were sinking six inches or more with each step, and the snow would fall in on top of the snowshoe making it more difficult to lift it back out. Kevin fell in behind Maggie and we were two abreast. As it got deeper still, we were in a line single file and trading off the lead position. After a little over three hours of walking we arrived at the trailhead, exhausted and hungry from all the trail breaking. [N47 51.370 W123 02.154 elevation: 3370'] Kevin and I pulled out our JetBoils to heat some lunch and make coffee while Maggie got right into her sandwich. We discussed whether we should try and go a little ways up the trail from there but all agreed that the clock was against us. We started out the way we came, which was easier since we’d already established a trench in the deep snow. It occurred to me (too late) that we could have taken the trail down to the lower trailhead and made a loop out of it. Oh well. We made it back to the Jeep without incident and started out. No other vehicles tried to get to where we were, and it was surprising how much my tire tracks had filled in. Back in Silverdale we stopped for a burger and a beer. All in all it was an incredible day. We left the Jeep at 1050 and didn’t make it back until 1600. We had heavy falling snow, sideways blowing snow, and even blue skies with falling snow. If anyone is interested in a snowshoe hike, park at the split and hike to the upper trailhead, go down the trail to the lower trailhead, and back to the split. That will make a nice loop hike of about four miles.

Very cold in the morning, started out around 10. Trail very clear and clean, about 25% of the way there was a bit of snow on the trail but it was just a thin dust. About halfway the snow was thick in spots, on average about 2 or 3 inches. The last mile was snow that was variable, between nothing to a foot deep in certain spots. Awesome weather though and a fabulous view! Took about 4 hours round trip, including a 30 minute lunch break. Awesome hike, definitely recommend it! I am in pretty good shape and I broke a sweat and had to take a few breaks but it was very managable. Enjoy!

Started a little later in the afternoon than I'd planned to. I had to drive around the FS roads until I found one that didn't need a pass since the Ranger Station was closed and I couldn't buy one. I left the trailhead a little after 2pm. This is a GREAT hike. The trail is in fantastic shape smooth and well marked. There was one blowdown along the trail but it wasn't a real obstruction. There's a few very small streams and a couple of waterfalls as "eye candy" along the way. I talked with a person at the trailhead who'd heard the snow level was 5000'. I brought along a pair of used snow shoes I recently bought hoping for the chance to try them out. The temperature was pretty mild at the start, due to physical work and altitude. At 4944' there was a very slight dusting of snow begining. The temperature really began to drop and I found more solid snow on the ground about 5300' or so. It wasn't too deep and the traffic which passed before me had compacted it to ice. I walked beside the trail and made good use of my trekking poles. *Some of those YakTrax deals for your boots would've been ideal here. I strapped on my snow shoes when it was closer to 8-12" since the snow would be getting in the tops of my boots. They were sure handy and definately needed once the snow got much deeper. I passed a couple near the fork at Silver Lakes who'd made a wrong turn (there is a sign here Left to the Lake and Right to Mount Townsend). I continued as far up the trail as I could (following melting tracks from probably a week ago) I stoppd about the 6000' level-also took into consideration the soon to be gone daylight. The clouds would break from time to time offering from unlimited to a few hundred feet of visibility. I'd give this hike 2-thumbs up. Probably a great summer hike too. Dress for deep snow and very cold temperatures if planning this hike from here thru Spring. This will be a repeated hike next year for certain. Happy Halloween!

We did this hike earlier this summer when the flowers were just beginning to bloom. Now they are almost all gone--only a hardy straggler here and there. Although it was cloudy when we left home, we hoped for the promised sun-breaks. We were in the midst of the clouds as we ascended on the road up from Lords Lake, but the visibility improved somewhat once we were on the narrow, pot-holed road that takes you the last three miles. Once on the trail, it rapidly improved as we climbed, and we had sunshine with intermittent clouds the rest of our hike. The movement of the clouds in the trees during the time we spent on the Little Quilcene Trail particularly beautiful, and then after we reached the junction with the Mount Townsend Trail it became mostly sunny. That made the wonderful last mile of the trail quite spectacular, with its views of the mountains across the Dungeness. We could clearly see the trail from Tubal Cain as it crosses the huge, still green meadows towards Buckhorn. When we reached the top, however, we discovered that the views to the east were completely covered in clouds. We walked to the north summit and had it all to ourselves. (I don't know how many other hikers came up from the Mt. Townsend trailhead--we only saw a few from a distance). But the wind at the top was ferocious. We ate our lunch quickly and descended without going to the South summit. There was really no point because it was almost invisible in the dense clouds.