We made a quick trip up Mt. Washington (cascades) last night. The trail was in good shape up to the Owl Hike Lookout save a few blowdowns where snow became constant. We continued on and broke off the main trail at the first switchback and headed for the towers on the north ridge. The snow was sufficient to cover the brush in all but a few places. There were a few tricky places up by the towers where there was only a thing coating of snow over steep rock. After a trip to the towers we bypassed on left and headed for the ridge in deep snow skirting rocks in trees. It began to snow heavily. One member of our party fell in a big hole near a rock but was able to stop up to his armpits and scramble out. The summit lump was in a white out. It took over a hour to get back to the car as there were too many holes to glissade. All in all, good exercise. It seemed like near winter conditions.

Started at 9:45 at the Ollalie SP trailhead (from Seattle take exit 38 right, then the first right at the bend in the road). There were a few cars, apparently walking the Iron Horse Trail or going to Twin Falls. Went up the trail to a road that soon joins the Iron Horse. Turned right on the Iron Horse and walked about a 100 yards or so to a trail that goes off to the left. The trail is in good shape most of the way, but is overgrown in spots. After about 1 3/4 miles, there is a junction. The trail straight ahead looks well used, but the trail to the right is the one you want. At about 2 1/4 miles there is another junction, bear left here as the trail starts to ascends and becomes an old road. Some decent soul has left rock arrows to point the way through the various old logging roads from this point on. look for the arrows and the little rock blockades and you should have no problem. It was pretty cloudy so the views weren't spectacular. We did see a lot of berries and a lot of what I took to be bear droppings (the color of berries). Quincy the wonder dog let the 'head dog' go first so that he might fend off any bears we might meet. I knew there had to be some drawback to being head dog. Luckily, we didn't meet any 'gentle bens'. The short trail from the logging road to the summit is terribly overgrown. We stomped down and through it but next time we'll bring a machete!

My friend John and I decided to grab some great views and enjoy a nice workout. The trail is in good shape. Continuous snow begins roughly 3200 feet. It would be a good idea to bring snowshoes. We didn't take the shortcut trail that branches off just before Washington Creek. After the long route cross Washington Creek the second time, it climbs up to a junction with an old logging road. We went left and soon reached another junction. Most hikers keep straight. The shortcut route mentioned earlier meets meets up with this road maybe in a quarter to half mile or so. We took a right instead and it's just little less than a mile (0.80) to the summit from here. The road ends in about 0.30 miles and from there, we followed tracks uphill to an open area just below some rocks. Basically, the tracks took us to the left of the rocks and into thick third growth timber. We traversed uphill to where a logging road forks. The summit is little less than a quarter mile via cat track that heads up the ridge between the forks. Awesome views! We strapped on our MSR snowshoes for the descent and stuck to the roads, going by the Great Wall, and retracing our route back toward the trailhead. We saw lots of elk tracks and some cougar tracks as well. We noted coyote tracks leading to a squirrel kill...just the tail remained and a bloody area just a few feet away. Next time, we'll check out the shortcut route. Total trip was about 9.5 miles and 3200 feet gain.

A few large blowdowns which present no problem in getting around.The snow cover is continuous above 3200'. Snowshoes are a plus above 3800'.The snowpack is still soft and unconsolidated.

Owl Hike Spot. See Greenway page 196. Parking lot clear of snow. Good tracks in the snow all the way to Owl Hike Spot. A paper sign in a plactic cover says ""Owl Pearch"". Snow at Owl Pearch is 2 feet deep. Snow shoes required from this point on. We tried it without snow shoes from Owl Perch but had to turn back. RBrown surveyor