[kitya]

So far this year was not really great for my favorite activity - snowshoeing. A couple of weeks ago I went to Round Mountain and it barely had a dusting of snow at the top. This weekend with a snow storm Saturday/Sunday I hoped for a better situation, but due to high avalanche danger choose to go to Icicle Ridge trail in Leavenworth. Early in the morning hwy 2 was beautiful, all covered in snow from Scenic all the way to Leavenworth and beyond (the trick is to wake up early and drive before traffic and snowplows). Driving in Leavenworth itself was a bit more tricky - Icicle creek road was covered in maybe 3 inches of very wet unplowed snow, quickly becoming a mess. The advantage of Icicle ridge trail is that the trailhead is almost on Icicle creek road, however there is a short (about 500 feet only) forest road and a parking area just off the road, unfortunately it is a bit of steep uphill and surprisingly in deep wet snow even a short uphill becomes a big challenge for the car. I slid a few times back to the Icicle creek road and originally thought of just parking on the side of Icicle creek road (not blocking the entrance or the main roadway), but some local person stopped by and told me I cannot do that and have to either go up 500 to the trailhead or be towed. Is this true? I didn't see any no parking signs and I thought I have seen people park on side of icicle creek road in summer. Anyway, I attempted another time and finally made my car go to the official trailhead. It worked. From there there is a very nice very visible trail switchbacking up. Everything was covered in fresh snow and very beautiful, but snow is not enough for snowshoes, just an inch or two. Snow is heavy, but there is no avalanche danger due to how little it is. In about 2.5 miles there is a little hump on the ridge, that seems to be official 'trail end' for most of people doing this trail. There could be a beautiful view to the town and the ridge from there, but it was snowing and no views. After that we continued more on the endless trail just below the ridge, eventually getting to the ridge around 4000 feet. Finally there was enough snow for snowshoes and the area becomes more beautiful with the ridge becoming more wide and looking more like rolling terrain. It is very peaceful and one can safely continue for many more miles to even more interesting places, but unfortunately with the long slow drive and short days it was time to turn back. On a good day the views could be amazing, I guess. On the way back we found out that a huge group of people hiked the main trail to official viewpoint and the trail became very packed and smooth. We made a quick way down. 59 diner is finally open in the new building! stevens pass had a very bad wreck please drive safely in snow and be extra cautious and slow.

[DadFly]

It looks very peaceful. Your dog looks very happy. Thanks for the TR with pics!