If it weren’t for the snow, this would be a fairly tedious hike. For one, the service roads practically take you up near the summit so there’s no fun in that. Even if one decides to take shortcuts through trees on the ridge, it can get pretty brushy when the snow is absent.
Dogs aren’t allowed on the groomed Iron Horse Trail so couldn’t park in the sno-park. I drove around the neighborhood for a bit and finally decided parked at the end of the plowed Hyak Drive, not knowing if I’d get towed since the no parking sign was vaguely posted.
We followed road 9070 to the junction with 115, then took a left on 115 and crossed the Cold Creek bridge. The scramble started about 500 feet after crossing the bridge on the open slope just below the power line. We reached for the only transmission tower visible from the road, then went into the woods to get on the north ridge of Roaring Ridge. The saddle between the north and the south (summit) peaks were heavily corniced, so we shot straight up to the north peak for a quick break then turned around to go south.
Views to the east and the south were somewhat obstructed by the trees on the summit. The place with better views from east to west is only about 100 feet below the summit on an open area. It was windy on the summit, but the sun made up for the trip!