Hikers, skiers enjoy the beautiful day

4 p.m. update: The snow is slowly melting with the sun and the above-freezing temperatures. But it’s 33 degrees right now, and dropping.

A simply beautiful scene across Ballard this afternoon.

Many people took to long walks around the neighborhood.

Others strapped on their cross-country skis and snowshoes.

The roads, on the other hand, turned into a slushy mess, like here going up the Market St. hill. Underneath the slush is ice, sometimes in big clumps, making driving slippery and treacherous in spots.

This Metro bus is stuck just as you begin to climb the hill.

And down Fremont Ave., we watched this bus slide backwards through the intersection. It was able to make it through a short time later.

The forecast calls for the temperatures to hit freezing again tonight, turning all this water and slush back into ice just in time for the morning commute.