Craig

This is a very popular trail for snow wheeling. Some stop to day camp at Haller Pass and some push to Lonesome Lake, but either way it can get pretty busy on nicer winter weekends. Up until Haller Pass there are plenty of places to pull off and allow opposing traffic to pass, but it is not uncommon to get behind large groups with many vehicles or less prepared / less capable parties. Sometimes a little patience is required, especially on the way down at the end of the day. On 1/14/23 I went to Haller Pass only and the snow level was much higher than normal for this time of year but the frequent traffic and thaw / freeze has made it more icy than snowy until higher elevations. The trail seemed passable by stock 4x4's trucks and SUVs with sufficient clearance; several made it to Haller Pass while I was there, but have recovery gear and a buddy because the icy sections can still have you sliding off the trail and into deeper snow pretty easily. There is still enough snow at the higher elevations to make this much more challenging than the rating associated with the summer forest road it is.

Made it from FS Rd 70 to Waypoint 4 but continued up 7030 to 7034 to stay in a Christmas Tree cutting area. After the week's winter weather in the western Washington lowlands this route was covered with fresh, deep powder; as of 12/3 previous packed tracks are only available to Waypoint 4. I saw some folks playing a bit further up 7036 from Waypoint 4 but they did not get far before the fresh snow turned them around. Bottom line it's snow wheeling season so even mild forest roads can become impassable to milder rigs and be prepared with recovery equipment (not just for your group but other groups that over extended their reach).

I ran this trail west to east with a group and we were glad to find about 6" of fresh snow at Government Meadows following the previous western Washington day's rains. The lower section (waypoints 1 - 8) progressed from wet to snowy and was passable, but more so than ever it is the time of the year to go prepared with recovery equipment and the safety of a group. There was a small tree down just west of Government Meadows and I didn't have my saw, so I'd recommend that folks go prepared to have the clearance or equipment to clear the trail between now and the closure. The photo was taken between waypoint 13 and 14 and with the fresh snow and traces of blue sky it was an absolutely amazing day on the trail. We returned over Pyramid Pass and did not run the trail east of waypoint 20, but well prior to that point the trail is clear of snow and only slightly slick.