Mount Washington & Change Creek 04-27-2019

Snow and winter conditions on Mount Washington and Change Creek trail yesterday. 1-4 inches of new snow based on location on the mountain. Light snow began on trail around Owl SPot Lookout. Neat the pond, the junction with the Mount WA trail and the old road that connected the Great Wall trail (Ollalie Trail and FS 5010-370) snow was a few inches deep.

A storm blew in and dumped 1-4 inches, depending on where you were on the mountain. The trail was manageable with spikes and poles. Some folks only wore boots and shorts. I took the logging road back towards Change Peak and took the Change Creek trail down. Significant snow on the way down, especially around the pond at Change Creek. The trail was great but snowy until that point. Deep snow mounds provided some fun for trail bashing with some minor post-holing; however, the trail condition is a mess – downed logs, branches, twigs, etc. made navigation – not difficult, but not fun. It only became worse until I reached a MMM Ridge sign – Middle Mother Mountain’s ridge – apparently a path up to the ridge climb, which looks great! The trail improved in terms of debris, passing J’s Landing turnoff and Hall’s Point. Good views from Hall’s point. I continued down until the Ollalie Knob taking the trail to the end and vistas – great views – watch the exposure. The trail down was very steep, rooty for a bit, and wet and mossy. Some good steps have been built to make the descent (or ascent) manageable – this is steep but a really fun section, passing many rock formations, cliffs, and views of Hall Creek valley with the Zig-Zag trail and McClellan in the background. This trail does not appear to get much use, certainly past Halls Point turnoff given the condition. I took the trail to the Paulous to Cascades trail and back to the Mount Washington trailhead. A great day with mixed winter weather conditions and various terrain down the Change Creek trail. MMM Ridge is up for a dry day later in the season.