With the early plowing to reopen the Mt. Loop Highway for access to Darrington, we have an unexpected April start to the hiking season. Both the Big Four picnic area and the Mt. Dickerman/Perry Creek trailhead parking lots are open and clear, At Barlow Pass the highway parking area is mostly clear, but the upper lot still is snow bound. Above Silverton the Deer Creek road is open at least two miles, The Coal Lake road is open for three. The Sunrise Mine trail road is accessible, but with no estimate on how far it is snow free. From Barlow Pass the Monte Cristo county road is drivable to the MCPA picnic table/avalanche chute, but with some snow on the road. At that point the avalanche zone still features approximately eight to ten feet deep at its maximum depth and roughly two hundred feet across. From there the road and trail is quite walkable, with too much snow for bikes and too little for skis. At the Devil’s Elbow there are some small trees and debris across the road. Movement at the clay slide appears to be only several inches, fortunately. Two obstructing trees, ten to twelve inch diameter dry alders also are at the slide, one prior to and one after it. Both are easy step overs. The river is running hard at the start of the bypass trail, which is walkable with no major issues. Due to extreme danger, crossing the river here is not recommended.