Started late, ~9am from Seattle, sunny. More and more cloudy as we headed east. Around Snoqualmie Pass, everything was coated with fresh snow from last night, very pretty. Icicles hung by the road. Less snow east of the pass. A bit icy on the road, but not too bad. Over a dozen cars parked along the road. As soon as we parked, another car pulled behind us. Quite popular.
I was here Dec. of 2019. This time, the clouds were higher. So we had the view of Cle Elum Lake most of the way, even on the road walk. I really like the ridge half way up (didn't see a thing last time). Excellent view. However a bit windy.
Above the ridge, you dipped into the woods again in a broader burnt forest. Only the upper part of the forest had coat of snow.
The very last ~100' is a bare butte. Great view, but not as good as last time. Clouds were getting thicker. They obscured the distant peaks. Had lunch on the summit, everyone else left. A bit windy, so didn't stay too long.
Back at the car, found a parking ticket, because half of the car was not inside the shoulder. But the shoulder was covered with old snow half my height. Well, all the cars, except the few inside the white line got tickets. A bitter blow on a beautiful day.
A few skiers, one carried a snowboard, one family playing in the snow on the road, dragging little wooden sleds. Half of today's hikers wore face masks when passing us.
