With my usual keen foresight I picked the cloudy and rainy weekend day to head out for a scramble, only to spend a lovely sunny spring Sunday in the city. The road to the upper Mt Townsend TH is in great shape with a few minor blow downs that are easily dodged in a passenger car. The trail is in great shape too, until it disappears under snow after about 1.5 miles. From there, the scrambling route heads basically straight up snow slopes to the ridge. Near the top, the trail is intermittently find-able, and it's plainly visible on top of the summit ridge. We kicked steps all the way up (but a surprising amount of new snow was falling during our descent, and our steps were vanishing). There are some fun short glissades to be had on the way down too.

The Dungeness Road is open to all of the first three trails. I went up #835 to near the junction with the Mt. Townsend trail, where I lost the trail in snow, and lost my motivation as a heavy fog came in to obscure the snow clad peaks which minutes before had glistened in the brilliant sunshine. Did not see any people or vehicles once I hit the forest road.

ROGAC (Really Olde Guys Alpine Club) founding members Jim Tomich and Jim Champa managed to plant their tired old feet on the summit of Mount Townsend. The road to Bon Jon Pass is driveable with a four-wheel drive vehicle. Snow is not issue; rather, several freeze/thaw cycles have created a veneer of solid ice on the road. Driving beyond Bon Jon Pass towards the upper trailhead is strictly for the foolish. In fact, there was a truck stuck sideways on the road about two miles beyond the pass, high-centered on the snow. The words ""WE NEED HELP"" were stomped into a nearby snowbank. Snow depths ranged from zero on the summit (large areas covered by ice are avoidable) to perhaps 3 to 4 feet along the trail. It is possible to follow the trail all the way to the summit, although it is snow covered the entire way. Trail signs are visible above the snow. Under the forest canopy, snow was unconsolidated, so there were no worries about slipping on hard crust. We used cross-country skis, which made for great fun during the descent, but unless you consider yourself expert at avoiding trees while schussing, forget it and instead take snowshoes. From Bon Jon Pass, this trip takes all day, so make sure you're there at sun up ready to go.

The Mt. Townsend trail is pretty well snowed in. We could not reach even the lower trailhead in a 4-wheel-drive CRV, so we had to park at the point where the road to the lower trailhead leaves FS 27. At that point, there is about a foot of snow on the ground, and slightly less under the trees. Snow depth increases from the lower trailhead. Sink Lake is currently frozen about 3 inches thick, so you can walk on it. Just below Camp Windy, the exposed portions of the trail seem rather avalance-prone, so keep in the trees as much as possible. At that point, 12-18 inches of powder prevented us from continuing. No other parties had been to Camp Windy since at least before the last snowfall.

Despite what I wrote on the trail register, I didn't expect to get to the summit of Mt. Townsend. And I didn't. With the November storms running through I was happy enough to be able to drive to the lower trailhead. There was speculation that the road would be blocked by snow, trees, slides, or washouts, but I only found a few narrow spots. The boulders and trees always left just enough room for skinny cars to get by. Even the snow and ice that kept me from the upper trailhead were mostly gone by the time I was driving back down. I only made it up about a thousand feet. The trail was almost completely covered in snow and there were less than a half dozen tree falls along the section that I saw. One intrepid individual was heading for the summit. The notes on the trail register suggested that he or she had made it to the summit the previous week. A bit more snow and another storm or two are all it will take to close the area for the winter, but I was glad to get in a hike (my bad back turned me back) and get to see the lower part of the trail. The lake had flooded, froze and then partly drained, so large sheets of ice were stranded and tilted along the shore. I can see why folks will camp down there by the shelter, but I think that is something for next year.