Just a quick update on the conditions of my hike to Pineapple Pass. Sunday morning at 8 (and 32 degrees) the snow was in perfect shape--very firm base under about 5 inches of fluffy, granular stuff. By the time I came back to my car, it was in the sun for a few hours and getting to be more like peanut butter. A lot of side-slipping on those long traverses. (Car temp was 45-ish) Just under an hour to Source Lake, then 1:50 climbing to the top of the pass. A couple groups were attempting the Tooth Plenty of friendly AT skiers and for a change, I saw more fellow snow-shoers than skiers this time. There were times I was able to trudge directly uphill and other times I needed to switchback--the snow was pristine when I started but based on what I saw on the descent there are likely to be ample sets of tracks to follow until more snow covers them. Nothing dangerous if you use common sense. Plenty of cliffy areas in the area but none right under Pineapple. I did see evidence of avalanches (plenty of debris below the Chair/Bryant col, but it appeared to be snow dusted so I'd say it was a couple days old), but nothing big or within the past two days on the south/west side of the river. The summer trail on the other side probably had more of that. Compared with my handful of trips earlier in Jan and Feb, Source Lake was mostly exposed this time and the river was exposed to a width of about ten feet--back in Jan/Feb neither were visible under layers of ice and snow. SO it looks like our early winter snows have segued into early spring thaw. Still gorgeous, even with soggier snow.

Classic loop in Alpental area. Conditions far from ideal: - icy snow in forest; - frozen avalanche debris on almost all slopes; - white-out on upper sections; Whole trip take us almost 8 h, I think it is can be done faster in better conditions. Main route waypoints : Alpental -> Source Lake -> Pineapple pass -> Denny Creek -> Melakwa Lake -> Chair Peak Lake -> Snow Lake -> Source Lake -> Alpental Full report in link bellow

We left the Alpental parking lot at 11:30am and returned by 5pm. You could hike faster, and we did break for a long lunch at the lake itself. Snow is a bit crunchy at the beginning, but about half-way in turned quite powdery. There were those who attempted this trail without snowshoes, but they left 2 foot post holes all along the route. About 2 miles in, you will face a decision: up to the right or down to the left. We were going for Snow Lake originally, so we went to the right. However, the normal break-off before Source Lake for Snow Lake did not exist (we would have had to forged through fresh snow). So, we decided to only go to Source Lake. The lake itself is completely covered. There were plenty of skiers having fun around the basin. I believe you can make a push for Snow Lake after reaching Source Lake to the right. Our muscles and the position of the sun deemed this a challenge for another day. We encountered robber barons who were looking for hand-outs as well as one spider on the snow. A wonderful day for a snowshoe on a classic trail.