Mount Waumbek

Trail: Starr King Road, Starr King Trail

Conditions: Snow - Packed Powder/Loose Granular, Snow - Unpacked Powder, Snow/Ice - Postholes

“Parked in the golf course lot with several other cars. Both lots down the road and at the gas station are plowed. Snowshoes from the trailhead for the entire way. Middle of the trail was hard-packed and easy going for snowshoes. Several people had spikes, but snowshoes are highly suggested as the edges of the trail drop off quickly with deep snow. Some post-holes. But the trail is in great shape. Loose snow on top with the recent snowfall and cold temps. Not much ice. Snow was very dry and fluffy. Perfectly clear day. Cold Temps in the teens. Trees are covered like marshmallow with some trees releasing their weight in the sunshine (wear a hood when going under trees). A couple small blowdowns. Easy enough to get around, but the sides of the trail are soft and sink easily outside of the hardpack of the main trail. Dropped easily up to my hip in one spot (with snowshoes on).”

Trail: Starr King Road, Starr King Trail

Conditions: Snow - Packed Powder/Loose Granular

“Trail up to the soft woods was packed and mostly consolidated. However, a couple of skiers skinned up and skied down criss-crossing the lower trail. Once in the soft woods, the trail was not as well consolidated. Sections were churned up and pretty uneven. Between the summits was a bit more of the same. Not sure why most people on the trail were in spikes; snowshoes are clearly the better option. No views today, just clouds. It is still pretty cool walking along the ridge in the clouds with the trees so full of snow. Winds were much less than anticipated.”

Trail: Starr King Road, Starr King Trail

Conditions: Snow - Packed Powder/Loose Granular, Snow - Unpacked Powder, Snow/Ice - Frozen Granular

“I was the first person on the trail yesterday, on a very cold morning. I wanted to do a quick lap before the winds increased and the temps dropped. There were a couple inches of fresh powered on the trail from the snow overnight, but it was solid enough underneath to be able to bare-boot it until ~3000’ where the powder got deeper, where I switched to snow shoes. There is still tons of snow on the trees higher up. It was snowing hard on my return lap, so much so that my tracks had already been covered on my way back down. There were ~6 people heading up as I was on my way out, all of whom had snow shoes, so the trail should be well packed now.”