We were here exactly two years ago, but needed to turn around because of shorter daylight and I don’t think I had a headlamp back then.
Parking by Newport Creek was minimal because most snow was left unplowed by the pullout. The two miles on the service road was uneventful and quiet, with occasional sounds of snowmobiles coming from the east. Surprisingly, there were no snowmobiles on the road this time around.
It appeared that the area had gotten enough foot traffic in recent weeks that I didn’t need snowshoes until just below the trail/road junction. The work of trail breaking had already been done for us so that saved some time from route finding. We past four or five parties on the way up and we were the only ones on the summit when we arrived. Three guys came up about 15 minutes later and we chatted for a few before heading back down the mountain.
It was getting windy on the summit but not too bad. The wind could be avoided by staying a few feet lower on the south slope.