off trail – Wild Wanderer

Northwest Pole – 13,660, Pole Creek Mountain – 13,716 & PT 13,573

RT Length: 19.67 Miles

Elevation Gain: 5926’

I drove up to Carson Pass a few days before and slept in my truck, hiking Bent Peak the first day, and Carson Pass, Tundra Top, Cataract Peak, and PT 13581 the next. For details on the drive in, please see this post: Carson Pass.

I woke up before my alarm again today, but not because I was well rested: I was cold! As I turned on a light I realized I only had half of my blankets covering me. There wasn’t any wind last night, and when I looked outside I could see tons of stars. The clear skies had made for a cold night. I jumped in the cab of my truck to warm up and get ready for the day, noticing it was 32 degrees outside (as compared to yesterday morning’s 43). It was amazing what difference a few degrees makes.

I turned the truck on to turn on the heat and was once again disappointed to notice my ABS and Traction lights were still on, as well as my 4WD light still blinking. That was going to haunt me all day.

I was on the trail by 3:30am, and it was so cold I turned back at one point, intent on sitting in my truck a little longer, but I immediately turned back again: I’d knew I’d warm up a bit once I started moving. The weather forecast was better for today, but I still wanted to get an early start. I followed the 4WD dirt road 821 to the class 1 Trail 813 as it lost a total of 400’ as it wound down the canyon, and then gained almost 1000’ to the top of the pass.

There was one small section of snow to cross, but luckily the elk had already done a great job blazing the trail.

Once at the top of the pass I continued along the trail, dipping down into the basin, losing another 700’ of elevation.

After hiking for a total of 5 miles at this junction I turned and followed 822 southwest to the base of the Northwest Pole Ridge.

In the basin I left the trail and headed for the Northwest Pole Ridge

My goal here was to gain the ridge and follow it to the summit of Northwest Pole. Here’s an overview of the route:

And what it looks like gaining the ridge (yes, tons of elk out there today). Also, the basin was marshy, but since it was so cold and early in the morning it was frozen and crunchy. There were ribbons of water that I hopped across. I wouldn’t want to pass this area when it’s soggy and wet.

Once on the ridge it’s easy to see the snow free path to follow, all on tundra. This is all easy class 2

From the top of the ridge you dip down a little bit and then back up on loose rock

The crux of this climb comes at the very end. I spent some time trying to figure out how I wanted to summit. At first I tried to gain the block at the area where all the bird droppings were, but it didn’t look like it was the easiest way. Next I tried summiting up a chimney, but about halfway up I knew I’d need rope to get back down (I’m short) so I stopped and looked for another route. In the end I was able to summit by going up the area with all the bird droppings, just from a different angle. There is a lot of exposure here and small scree on the rocks, making it slippery and a fall dangerous.

Here’s the route I took:

I aimed for the bird droppings. Here’s what that looked like from a couple of different angles.

From there I traversed along the exposed edge towards the summit.

It looks easy, but this is the exposure, and yes, it included a trust jump (once again, I’m short, it could have been more of a long lean for someone over 6 feet tall, but I had to jump). Here’s looking back on the jump area (it’s too difficult to see in a picture coming from the other way, but this picture offers a good look back on the ridge too)

I summited at 9:45am

Northwest Pole:

Here I am getting ready to jump the area on the way back.

And from the top where the bird droppings are back down. Yes, it’s as steep as it looks

Back on solid ground I took a picture of the summit block and how I traversed it. I circled where I jumped.

Time to head over to Pole Creek Mountain. Here’s an overview of the route from Northwest Pole

I descended east towards the basin, first on loose rock that gave way to tundra, losing 850’ of elevation, crossing a stream, and heading back up towards Pole Creek Mountain.

Here’s looking back at Northwest Pole

I continued southeast towards Pole Creek Mountain. Here’s how I ascended; the snow was easy to avoid, and I used it to track where I wanted to go:

After ascending the ridge I aimed for the access gully, which had snow but enough dry areas to pass easily without traction

Then I just followed the ridge south towards the summit

I summited Pole Creek Mountain at 9:45am, after almost 10 miles of hiking

Pole Creek Mountain:

I headed back the same way I’d come in, following the ridge and then going back down the small access gully. Everything looked totally different on my way back and I second guessed myself a few times, but keeping Northwest Pole in sight helped.

Once back down in the basin between Pole Creek Mountain and Northwest Pole I wanted to stay high on my way back out to avoid the snow below Pole Creek Mountain to the east

I headed north, and then east around this small peak.

There was some snow here, but elk in the area make a great trail and traction wasn’t needed

I rounded the east side of the small peak

And unexpectedly came across a small herd of elk! This was so cool! I’ve heard of elk doing this, but I’d never actually seen it before: the mama elk were laying in a circle, with the babies laying down inside and two sentries standing guard. I saw them a split second before they saw me (the wind was blowing towards me, so they hadn’t heard/smelled me) and I was able to get a picture before they took off

As soon as one of the elk standing guard saw me I could almost hear him say:
“See? This is why we always employ the safety circle! Always! This is not a drill! Move! Move! Move!”
And they were off and down the hillside, out of sight.

Well, that had certainly been a neat experience! I continued rounding the peak and then made my way down the hillside, all the way to the basin floor. Here’s an overview of the route I took

And looking back, here’s the route I took down into the basin. For obvious reasons I’m now referring to this as “dementor ridge”

Once in the basin I was at the lowest elevation I’d be at all day, and still had a lot of hiking left to do. I aimed northeast until I hit a trail, and then followed it up. This was trail 822 that would bring me back to Trail 813 (if I chose to go that route). This was actually easier than it looks because there are a lot of good elk trails in the area, passing through the willows.

I followed the trail to a sort of a saddle, and stopped to think

From here the trail obviously dipped down once again, losing several hundred feet of elevation before reconnecting with Trail 813 and gaining the pass, then dipping back down into the basin and up again out. Here I was, sitting directly below PT 13580, a ranked 13er that I’d want to hike sometime in the near future, but in which I dreaded that drive into Carson Pass that would be necessary again next time. It was still early in the day and the weather was great. I decided to just summit PT 13580 now while I was in the area. I’d done some scouting yesterday and today, and I was sure the route from the summit of 13580 back to the pass ‘went’ easily and would be snow free. I turned right and headed east up the mountainside. This was a very straightforward hike up tundra

At the top the tundra turned to rock, all class 2 and easy to navigate

At the top of this rocky area was the summit. I summited at 2:15pm

PT 13,580:

Here’s a look back at the route

Now I decided to stay high on the ridge and aimed north, following the ridge towards the peaks I’d climbed yesterday

And then back down to the pass and trail 813

The hike out was uneventful. It was a beautiful day and I just followed the class 1 trail back. Oh, and I saw the moose again, in the same spot as yesterday.

I made it back to my truck at 4:15pm, making this a 19.67 mile hike with 5926’ of elevation gain in 12 hours, 45 minutes. Here’s a topo map of my route:

When I made it back to my truck I noticed a marmot running out from underneath. Great. I decided it would be best to try to drive my truck down today in the daylight in case I got stuck, but because I also didn’t want to encounter other vehicles (if possible) I decided to eat dinner first and take my time. Also, I wasn’t even sure yet my truck would drive.

When it was time to go I was able to get the truck to move and tried to see if I could get 4WD to engage by driving the truck around for a bit, but that didn’t work. So I decided to just go for it and head back down the road, going as slow as possible. I probably maxed out at 2mph. When I got to about a mile from the end of the 4WD road I saw another vehicle turning around. It took them 20 minutes to do so, and by this point I was feeling pretty confident about my truck.

I made it back to the 36, kept trying different things to get my 4WD light to stop flashing and realized it was hopeless. I drove home and the first thing the next morning went to the dealership. The diagnosis: rodent damage. One of those darn marmots, chipmunks, pikas (etc.) had bitten through the wiring. Luckily it was fixable, and I was out of there within a few hours. They put rat tape over the wires to hopefully prevent this from happening again. I’d never heard of rat tape before, but it sounds like it should be on all wires.

I consider myself lucky: after years of leaving my truck in the backcountry this is the first time I’ve ever had this issue where it’s caused concern. I’ve chased some porcupine’s out from underneath my truck before, but that was before any damage was done.

I’ve done some serious thinking about the issue, and I think a physical barrier is the only way I’m going to keep rodents out. So here’s my idea: tomorrow I’m going to Home Depot and buying a large tarp and some bungee cords. When I park at the next trailhead I’m going to lay out the tarp, drive over it, and then secure it around my truck with bungee cords to prevent critters from getting underneath.

This is just a thought at this point, but something I hope to implement and test soon.

Tuckaway Mountain – 10,820

RT Length: 12.5 miles
Elevation Gain: 4220’
Partner: Steffen

Third time’s a charm! For so many reasons…

I’ve attempted this peak on 2 other occasions. One time a few years ago I thought I’d summited (more on that later) and last week I turned around due to deteriorating snow conditions. Today I’m glad to say I had a successful summit!

I drove to Steffen’s house at 4:30am and we made it to the North Cheyenne Mountain gate by 5am, but unfortunately, the gate was locked. I guess it didn’t open until 6am? Oh well, we had a plan B, so we drive down Old Stage road for about 45 minutes, intent on Frosty’s Park and hiking Mt Rosa or Almaghre (or both). About 5 minutes from making it to the trailhead Steffen realized he’d forgotten his hiking boots. Drat! We would have to drive back and get them. As I said, third times a charm, and we arrived at the (now open) North Cheyenne Canyon Trailhead at 7am and were on the trail by 7:20am. It was already light out and I had serious doubts we’d summit today due to warm snow, but at least we’d get in a good hike.

We wore our microspikes the entire way, even though they weren’t always needed. I’ve done this hike several times, so I won’t go into a detailed description of the route to Loud’s Cabin, but you can find it here

I basically took the 7 Bridges Trail (622) to 677 to 622A to Loud’s Cabin. Here are the pictures:

Along the way we saw some curious tracks in the snow. They were about 5-6 inches long and distanced about a foot to a foot and a half apart. It took us a while to figure out they were turkey tracks. It would have been much cooler had they been emu or velociraptor tracks or something, as they seemed too big to be turkey tracks…

Once at Loud’s Cabin things once again got tricky. I’d made a GPX file from CalTopo with the way we were supposed to go, but the trails were no longer there. We decided to ascend the hill above the cabin and head west. It became apparent almost immediately we were on the wrong ‘trail’ but we were on a trail and headed in the right direction and felt committed… until it ended.

I noticed a few cairns so we followed them for a bit until they ended as well. I’m guessing the cairns were indicating an alternate route up Mt Garfield.

We weren’t interested in hiking Mt Garfield today, so we left the cairns and aimed northwest along the side of the mountain, making our own trail as we went. This included some fun scrambling over rocks and fallen logs. Be careful: those rocks and logs move!

Also, here we saw the first near tracks of the season! I’m thinking mama and cub

We had great views of Tuckaway when the trees cleared (which wasn’t that often). The frustrating part? We didn’t seem to be getting any closer. In fact, it felt like the mountain was always in the same place (well, it was, but we weren’t making much progress).

This was our view of Tuckaway most of the time

Finally we made it to the top of a rock formation at about 10,400’

Here’s the view looking back at the way we’d circled Mt Garfield

And a look at the route before us towards Tuckaway

There were tons of ways we could have traversed over to Tuckaway, and we actually went back and forth while we were hiking as to the best way: there’s snow you cannot see in a lot of areas that would make certain routes lousy. We’d initially wanted to just hike across the ridge, but instead this is the path we took:

I got a picture because the view was great

And we were off, deciding to initially descend this spot to the north (where we came across a mine not listed on the map), and then head west down some snow covered boulders. The scree here was really soft and felt a bit like quicksand.

There are no great pictures here, as we were just in the trees headed towards the saddle just before Tuckaway. When we reached the saddle it was time to don our snowshoes. We trenched a trail from the saddle to the west and came across my tracks from last week.

My tracks eventually ended and we had a time sinking up to our waist in the soft snow, but we were stubborn and took turns trenching: we could see the blue skies above indicating a ridge and were determined to summit today

We made it to the ridge and to our immediate left was a cairn. This is where I’d stopped a few years ago, thinking this must be the summit (cairns like this usually indicate a summit).

It certainly looked/felt like the summit, and indeed, from here you cannot see a higher spot. However, I’d had someone (not so nicely) comment on my blog that I hadn’t reached the true summit; that it was in fact further to the west. So today I was here (again) to see if he was right. We decided to follow the ridge west, through several feet of snow (I love snowshoes!!!) gaining and losing elevation as we went.

After about 2/10ths of a mile we came to a point I wasn’t convinced was higher than where we’d been before but was definitely the spot I’d seen in other one person’s picture as the summit. There was no summit register here either and no cairn indicating a summit.

We decided to climb the rock, which took careful footing and a leap of faith. Here’s Steffen heading back

Here is my summit photo

And some of the amazing views from on top of the rock

We took a summit selfie

And I got another shot of the way back down

Side note: As I said earlier, I wasn’t convinced this point was any higher than the point we were at before, so once I got home I put the route up on CalTopo. It showed the second point was indeed 3 feet higher than the first, but I hadn’t climbed to the top of the first rock like I had the second. In other words, I think both places are of similar height, and in fact, while the rock was difficult to climb I’d say the route I took the first time was more challenging than the one I took today. In any event, either way, we summited because we made it to both points. I think either point should count on its own.
We decided to descend the way I’d trekked last week, and followed our snow tracks to the saddle

And back down the gully to the trail I took last time.

What’s frustrating here is the trail that’s on ALL the maps, GPX files, etc. is a trail the forest service doesn’t want you to take. They’ve made it extremely difficult to follow because they don’t want people hiking there. They’ve essentially tried to close this trial.

I totally get this, but the problem is they haven’t established new trails/produced proper GPX files, etc. of new routes. This is the best they give, which is a poor excuse for a map and doesn’t include topographic features or mountain names. It’s like they want you to get lost

I’ve been in this area several times and their new trails are terrible and are meant for dirt bikes, not hikers. It’s really frustrating: I’d set out today to follow proper (new) trails and provide a GPX file for others interested but was unable to do so due to lack of information. In my topo picture at the end it shows I followed the trail on my return, but that’s the one they’ve blocked off, so it isn’t actually a trail. IT was however, my safest option.
We encountered a lot of snow on the trail on the way back, and instead of complaining about how we kept on postholing we decided to make it fun. Here’s Steffen trying to get across the snow without sinking by running fast (spoiler alert: that doesn’t work)

We made it back to just below Loud’s Cabin, linked back up with Trail 667, and followed it back to the parking lot

We were surprised to find when we made it back to the lot that it was overflowing with cars!

What was disturbing was about a third of these vehicles were from out of state. We’re supposed to be staying home and hiking only in our respective county, and I’m doing my best to abide by those rules (before they get worse). It was extremely frustrating to see so many out of state cars, and they just kept going and going and going: the lot was overflowing and cars were parked along the side of the road for miles as we exited. There were more cars here than I’ve ever seen in the summer. It must be Spring Break in other states and they’ve decided to still take their vacations.
We made it back to the truck at 3:30pm, making this a 12.5 mile hike with 4220’ of elevation gain in about 8 hours. It was a perfect day to go hiking!!! I’m so glad we got out and got some fresh air!

Tuckaway Attempt and Mt Kineo

Note, my successful climb of Tuckaway can be found here.

This whole Coronavirus thing is crazy, and it’s driving me crazy. Half the states are closed to outdoor recreation, with the other half open. Our county is open for hikers (with restrictions to social distance), others in the state are closed (and there seems to be no consistency) so I chose to social distance close to home today, getting in 14 miles and 4300’ of elevation gain on a trail that hasn’t been used much, if at all this winter. I didn’t pass a single person all day.
My intent was to hike Tuckaway Mountain. It’s located off North Cheyenne Canyon well off the beaten path but at a popular trailhead. I arrived at the trailhead at 6am, the first vehicle in the lot. Right behind me was a car full of runners: they parked and immediately started running down the trail. I envied them their lack of gear.
I’ve explained this hike several times so I’ll just paraphrase: I took the Seven Falls Trail (622) to the junction with 677 and then 622A to Loud’s Cabin. This part of the trail was snow free but I wore microspikes because there was ice in areas.

Once at Loud’s Cabin the trail ended, but it wasn’t supposed to. I ended up backtracking a bit and finally finding a trail! The only problem? They obviously didn’t want anyone using this trail.

Hmmmm. In the past few years they’ve done a lot of re-routing trails here. This must be one of the ones they closed off. I knew which direction I was supposed to go, so I decided to leave the old trail and bushwhack my way towards another trail I was sure would be ahead of me.

After crossing a stream

I just aimed west, keeping the snow filled gully to my left.

I hiked like this for about 2 miles, until guess what? I found a trail! It was obvious this trail hasn’t been used all winter.

I followed it north and held out as long as I could before putting snowshoes on

Just as soon as I put on the snowshoes, the snow stopped. I found myself at another gully, and this time followed it up to the saddle. This part reminded me a lot of Mt Garfield, and there wasn’t a trail.

Once at the small saddle I turned left (west) and once again donned my snowshoes.

After about 200 feet of snowshoeing I could tell I was very close to the summit, but unfortunately the snow became impassable in snowshoes (I could have done it in skis). Every step I took I sank up to my waist. The snow was just too sugary and warm for snowshoes to be effective. Maybe if I’d started earlier in the day the snow would have been more firm?

I turned around a couple hundred feet from the summit. This was my second attempt of this peak (I thought I’d summited the first time but was told the summit was actually 50 feet more to the north, so I wanted to go back and see for myself/hit the true summit). I wasn’t that upset about turning back because I was really proud of all the route finding I’d done. Also, I have a friend who wants to hike this mountain with me, so I knew I’d be back no matter what. Now I just have more accurate route information.
From here I could see my path back down the canyon. Yep, I now know these hills like the back of my hand. Who needs a map?

I made my way back down the gully to the trail, and followed my footsteps back

To where I’d written I the snow where I’d bushwhacked in from so I knew how to get back

Back down the mountain I went, keeping the snow to my right this time

I was thrilled when I made it back to Loud’s Cabin. This had been a great day! This is also where I got the idea to summit Mt Kineo, just to say I’d summited something today. I’ve summited Mt Kineo several times, and it isn’t a difficult summit. I didn’t need a map or directions to get there. I hiked back to the 677/622 Junction and left the trail to hike up the Kineo mountainside

At the false summit I had a pretty good view of Tuckaway Mountain (the mountain I’d attempted that morning). It didn’t look snow-filled, even though it had been.

There was actually more of a trail this time up the mountain than I’ve ever seen. The first time I hiked here there was no trail, but now it’s a clear path.

The views from Kineo don’t disappoint!

The hike back was uneventful. It was weird not seeing anyone on this part of the trail: the last 1.5 miles is usually teeming with people

I made it back to my truck and the lot was about halfway full. I was glad people were getting out and enjoying the sunshine while they can. The cool thing about our trails being open is they self-regulate. There are only so many parking spaces at the trailheads so only so many people can be allowed in.
Here’s a copy of my track

Colony Baldy – 13,705’

RT Length: 13 miles

Elevation Gain: 5100’

The roads on the drive in were insanely icy all the way from Colorado Springs to the trailhead. This was unexpected because it hadn’t snowed/rained lately: the ice was all due to a low lying and heavy fog. This was serious ice too! I didn’t even really notice the ice until I narrowly avoided sliding into a mama raccoon crossing the street with two of her babies. From then on I couldn’t drive faster than 35mph the entire way, which meant I didn’t make it to the trailhead until 5:30am (I should have been there around 4:30am). Luckily today was one of those rare days when I didn’t have a serious schedule or need to be home at a specific time, so I took it all in stride.

Besides being icy the road to the trailhead was a paved 2WD road. There was about 3 inches of snow in the parking lot and no other vehicles. The bathrooms are locked for the season.

There was snow on the ground so I decided to just put on my snowshoes in the car so I wouldn’t need to later. I kept them on the entire hike. I started at 5:40am, following the mud, rocks, ice, and snow that today was the Rainbow Trail. Despite what you may think by the name of the trailhead, you actually turn left at this sign and take the Rainbow/Macey Trail #1336.

There are two creek crossings on this hike. The first is Horn Creek. Cross this bridge and take the trail to the left (Macey Lakes Trail)

The trail weaves around the mountainside, so it varied from mud and rocks to 2+ feet of snow, depending on which side of the mountain I was on at that point. I decided it wasn’t worth taking off and putting my snowshoes on every ¼ mile or so, so they stayed on. I hiked in silence, all except for the sound of ice crunching underneath my snowshoes.

The sun was beginning to rise, and with it the low-lying fog.

The second bridge is over Macey Creek. It is very similar to the first bridge.

Here I got my first view of Colony Baldy

At the Macey Creek bridge the snow was deep and from here to the summit I broke trail. Once you cross Macey Creek you’ll follow the trail down to the bottom of a long hill, losing about 200-300’ in elevation (thinking WHY?!?!? the entire time). Just before you get to the bottom of this hill there’s a path to the right. I was unable to see it as the path was covered in snow and I had to backtrack and look for it, knowing from my topo map it was there. If you see the drainage you’ve gone too far.

On my way out I noticed the path is directly opposite of this sign, and I took a picture of my GPS coordinates

This is where the trail ends. I followed the drainage west through a heavily forested area until I came to a small clearing.

From here I could see Colony Baldy, and turned south (left).

I was supposed to follow the ridge to treeline, but the trees were so dense it was difficult to see anything, let alone a ridge

Instead of following the ridge I followed the drainage, which was a great idea since I couldn’t see the ridge: all I could see were hills and trees. The drainage didn’t have water, and didn’t look like it ever held water, but it gave me a nice, stable ‘V’ to follow up the hillside.

From the small clearing to treeline was the most difficult part of this hike. The snow was about 3 feet deep and like cotton candy: I’d take a step and sink to my knees, sliding backwards. Every step was like this, and as I made it higher up the mountain my steps became deeper and the snow became softer. The snow also made the angle I was climbing much steeper.

It seemed to take forever to make it to treeline! Each step was exhausting. The angle of the slope is much steeper than these pictures suggest. Many times my snowshoes would slide backwards as I tried to take a step forwards. It was like climbing on a treadmill at elevation that isn’t turned on.

I made it to the bristlecone pine trees and was only halfway done with the hardest part of this hike. That bristlecone pine area is a good half mile of very steep elevation gain.

This was the largest dispersion of bristlecone pines at treeline I’ve ever encountered, and it all goes straight up. Just when you think you’ve made it to the top of the bristlecone pine area you encounter more. Once again, the steepness of the slope cannot be stressed enough, especially with the added snow. I was using tree branches as handholds to keep myself from sliding backwards.

This is also where the wind picked up and didn’t stop. It was only about 20mph, but it was a steady 20mph with no breaks between gusts. On the plus side it was beautiful to watch the snow get thrown into the air and fall back down.

I put on my goggles and pulled my balaclava up over my nose and kept climbing until I was finally out of the bristlecone pine area and just needed to finish gaining the ridge. I kept looking back at the route I’d taken thinking to myself how it all looked the same: There were so many tree covered hills at seemingly equal elevation below treeline. I seriously hoped the wind didn’t cover my tracks with snow or I’d be using my map and compass to find my way back as well.

Once I gained the ridge I had a great view of Colony Baldy

And the route before me

From here to the summit it was an easy hike over rocky tundra. Easy, yes, but it took me forever to complete. The hike thus far had completely worn me out. I haven’t been this tired/slow going on an alpine hike in a very, very long time. I’d take 50 steps (yes, I’d count them) and then reward myself with a rest to breathe for 10 seconds. And all the false summits! Here’s the first one

And the second one

I gained the second false summit after a battle of wills with myself. I was exhausted. The wind coming straight at me and the intense elevation gain up the ridge and through the bristlecone pines had seriously worn me out. I kept telling myself it was almost over and I just needed to gain this one last hill and I’d be done. I promised myself I’d take a break once I’d summited and rest a bit. Imagine the words that went through my head when I gained the ‘summit’ and was met with this

Argh!!! Nope, I didn’t stop, even though my legs were screaming and I was having a difficult time catching my breath (something else that hasn’t happened on an alpine hike for me in quite a while). I kept going: 50 steps, 10 seconds to breathe. 50 steps, another 10 seconds to breathe. And you know what? When I finally gained that last hill to the true summit it was all worth it: I was met with the most fantastic view of the Crestones I’ve ever seen!

The downside? It was freezing cold! And windy. I took a summit picture

And a quick video before my cell phone went from 49% battery down to 7%

VIDEO:

I plugged in my cell phone to the charger and it immediately went back up to 15% and just stayed there, so I put my cell phone back in my pack and headed down, as my hands were starting to burn inside my mittens.

Here’s a look at that long, wonderfully ‘easy’ ridge. While it looks flat, it’s really just an easy slope.

The best part about hiking down? I was using different leg muscles and now I wasn’t tired at all. Each step downhill it became easier to breathe and I started picking up the pace (being careful not to trip on the rocks poking out from between the snow with my snowshoes). At the end of the slope I turned right (northeast) and followed the slope back past a small outcropping and to the bristlecone pine area. My tracks were all still (mostly) visible. Woot!

This is where I decided to have a little fun. The trench I’d made on my way up was steep and I kept slipping and sliding forward on my way back down because the snow was really, really soft. So I decided to just glissade on purpose because I was doing it by accident anyway.

I ended up doing this almost the entire way back down to the meadow. The path I’d taken was steep enough for me to slide down the entire way, but the snow was deep enough not to let me go too fast (an ice axe wouldn’t have been much help in this snow).

I made it back to the meadow and turned right and headed back to the Rainbow Trail. The 3.5 miles back to the trailhead seemed to last forever. It still wasn’t worth it to take off my snowshoes for the help they gave me in the shaded/snowy areas, so I kept them on. Wearing them included the added bonus of not needing to carry them. I didn’t see anyone else all day, and my tracks in were still the only tracks I saw on my way out, so I’d been alone all day today on the mountain.

I made it back to my truck at 3pm, making this a 13 mile hike with 5100’ of elevation gain in approximately 9.5 hours.

Here’s the relive video of the trek : https://www.relive.cc/view/1972846660

I made it back home at about 6pm and when I went to jump out of my truck my entire body groaned as I touched the ground. That soreness is something else I haven’t experienced for a long time, and an indication of a fabulous hike and a day well spent!