More information and more pictures below!
This part of the Tarbell loop is a 4 mile stretch between the trail head and the entrance to the US Forest Service trails around Silver Star Mountain. This trail head, like the Rock Creek Campground Trail Head required a discovery pass, so I'm assuming it is maintained by the Washington State Parks Department. They had some picnic tables and a toilet up there, and it'd be a great place to have a picnic. There are some great views even at the trail head, by which you can see the ranges that surround the area. It's pretty great, and beautiful with the snow on the ground.
Today, there was between 2" and 15" of snow on the trail. It made it quite deep in some spots, but it has been sunny for the passed two days, and it was soft in some spots, hard in other spots. I found myself falling at most 6" in the deepest parts with regular hiking boots on. I didn't find it treacherous at all. Considering it was a week-day, I didn't expect to see anyone up there, and I didn't see a soul. However, I did hear people hunting again, which was a little unnerving.
I got there pretty late, at 12:20PM, after having gotten up a little late, getting gas and filling up my tires a little higher than usual for the colder-than-usual weather. For this hike, I carried:
Water, in a Platypus bag (3L)
Power bars (2)
Clif Protein Bar (1)
Rope
First Aid Kit
Camera
Flashlights (3)
Phone
Bandanas (4)
Trekking Poles (2)
Total: ~ 15 lbs in my pack
I considered it a nice, 4 hour hike and a scouting mission to see how long it would probably take me to get to the top of Silver Star. I made it just passed the 3.5 mile trail marker in 2 hours, which was almost to the Silver Star trail network, which means I was only about 4.5 miles from the summit.
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| Mount Saint Helens |
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| Silverstar Mountain in the distance |
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| Another shot of Silverstar |
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