Black Butte Upper Trail Head in Mid-January

Nostalgia for the place alone put this at a 10/10 for me. We have been having crazy nice weather this winter here on the eastern side of The Cascades. Perfect little hike for any free afternoon with weather like this. The road up to Black Butte Upper Trail Head was fairly icy and snowy probably 80% up to the parking/staging area. 2WD and 32 inch tires made it with no issue. Truck is mostly stock, but older. Newer rigs may have clearance issues on the way up due to snow/ice ruts of 10 or 12 inches. Road was clear, and could still see gravel underneath most the way.

The hike itself was beautiful on the way up. No wind, so the highway could still be heard. Clear skies. No critters. Ice on trail can be pretty thin, especially on edges of the trail so I would recommend keeping that in mind. I brought a long a really nice walking stick that has a proper metal tip spike at the end, kept me with three or so points of contact with the butte most the way. Met one other group on their way down. No litter/trash/vandalism was able to be seen, although there was a good bit of snow. 3 areas have logs across the trail, only the middle one seemed a bit risky because the snow on the downhill side felt a bit soft.

Up top still there was no wind. Glorious views in every direction on a clear day like this. Definitely thankful for this day.

The way back down was a little bit faster. Definitely a lot more slippery. I did not fall, but I can only thank my walking stick and a bit of luck for that.

Cell reception all the way to the top with Verizon.

Standard equipment brought, would recommend the following for certain:

Warn clothes that can dry well. (Columbia raincoat and gas station Oregon-themed hoodie kept me plenty warm. Oh, and a knit cap.)

Good boots/hiking shoes with ankle support. (My old Garmonts held up as expected).

Pair of sun glasses for the snow glare

Water, just in case. The white sugar free monsters in an eligible alternative as well.

Some lickies/chewies/pogey-bait. I brought some jerky.

Radio/charged phone.

25lb pack for fun. (It is my first hike in about 4 years so I kept it light.)

On a scale of 1-10, with 1 being a winter/icy store parking lot, this is probably a 2 for difficulty or safety.

12/10 recommend. It was so tempting to stay up here till sunset, I will have to save that for next time though, got to head down the road and get home for dinner. ????