A beautiful day to be out at Mt Rainier, clear views all the way to the Olympics! I hiked a loop from the Paul Peak trailhead to the intersection with the Wonderland trail, to Mowich Lake, up to the Tolmie Lookout, and back out via the Grindstone Trail and Mowich Lake Road. It's a great loop this time of year, I saw no one all day and the trail conditions were quite good, snow easily passable, with the exception of deeper sections at and above Eunice Lake.

Road: I was happy to see that the road is open all the way to the Paul Peak Trailhead, the gate for winter closure is shortly past that. The road is very rough on the drive in, a car that can manage lots of potholes is a must. No snow at all to the trailhead (3,800').

Snow: Paul Peak trail is snow free. Intermittent snow as you approach Mowich lake starting at about 4,500' and consistent above 4,700'. On the trail before Mowich it's only 3-4" max, some slushy and some icy, and then 6-8" in the open areas at the campground and road at the lake. The hike up to Ipsut Pass is mostly snow covered, but once you climb above the lakeshore it's only a few inches on trail. Would be icy in colder temperatures, but I didn't need any traction today. So it ended up being a pretty easy going all the way up to Eunice Lake (5,400') where things changed and the snow got significantly deeper. Variable, but consistently 18-24" deep and constant postholing. So it was a slog up to the lookout for that last mile, and snowshoes would have made things a lot easier. But the trail was easy to follow and level enough that it wasn't risky, just a significant workout. Glad I had gaiters. Snow on the Mowich Lake Road started at about 4,200'. There were ski tracks up at Mowich Lake, but at the moment you'd need to carry them the first couple miles from the closure point before being able to use them.

Trail: Paul Peak Trail in excellent condition. Besides the snow described above, it was quite wet for sections above Ipsut Pass. And the Grindstone Trail is very mucky in sections right now. But I did fine with waterproof trail runners and gaiters for the snowy sections, plus poles.

The WTA presets don't really help here--the hike was a "winter hike" (i.e. the road is closed) to Ipsut Pass, which is not any hike's final destination, I guess.

My first winter hike here and it was pretty good--may be an acquired taste. The closure saves you 5+ miles of washboard driving each way, but of course increases your hike distance by about 4.5 miles each way. My last hike here was Aug 29, almost exactly two months ago, but it might as well have been another century. What I knew to be a sunny, dusty drive to an inviting lake with swimmers(!) was now a wet slog by car in darkness--no dust, but the puddles obscure the depth of the potholes, and Mowich Lake looked pretty cold and gray.

The first five miles of the unpaved road were okay--I set my cruise control to 30 and the Outback behaved until the potholes made me rethink my life choices. Parked near the toilets at the gate (stinky, but oodles of TP!), and started hiking at 8:00 am. The road was bare at first, then some small snow patches after one mile, a thin layer of snow at about two miles, and a good 2-3 inches by the time I turned off for the Grindstone Trail (which saves you about a mile in each direction--plus it's a nice hike!). Also, saw a good-sized black bear on the road--maybe 50 feet away and he seemed more surprised than I was. I clacked my poles a few times and scolded him loudly for being in the way so he obliged by heading off trail. Shouldn't he be asleep?

The grindstone trail is neat and truncates two big loops in the road, but today it was 100% snowed in 4-8" deep, with plenty of muddy spots too. The trail is pretty well packed down and easy to follow. May not be as the snow gets deeper, not sure. Back on the road after a mile or so it was a short way to the Tolmie Peak TH, which I walked just two months before. I was hoping to make it to Tolmie Lookout, but the weather stunk and there were no chances of views. With the wind kicking up and knocking giant clumps of snow out of the trees all around me (WHOOMPH!  BOOM!), I turned around at the top of the pass at 4.8 miles and 2:08 into the hike. Easier and uneventful back to the car by 3 hours and 45 minutes or so, or a little before noon. Completely drenched, but it was a nice hike in the snow. No traction needed since it was slushy/crunchy, but I used my poles (as always). Vertical gain about 1,800 feet--so weird to not gain that much height, yet there was 10" of snow at the top and zero snow at the car (but plenty of rain).

If you can grab a sunny winter day for this, I recommend it--it was pretty cool. Later in the season, it might require snowshoes or skis. For now, just boots did fine. 

Tolmie peak road entrance is closed early according to park ranger. I don't know if you can still hike on the road but there were construction signs ahead and gate closed. We could not go up.

Bit crowded especially up on the lookout, but man it was gorgeous. Weather was perfect too with clear skies. Pictures don’t even do it justice. Worth the drive and the rough road, which I got through on a sedan without much trouble.