Hiked with Kim. Started out around 0900 to light sleet in the parking area with one other car there, temperatures in the mid 30’s with no wind.

The trail was a slushy mess to start with that gradually became more snow-laden as we continued upward.

It snowed the entire way up the trail. We ran into the other hiker, a man with his dog, about a half mile from the summit- they were on their way down to the continuing snow without having made it to the summit.

Considering this was my third time up this you’d think I would remember the trail, but I had forgotten that it’s a really good climb for its short distance! We chatted the whole way up taking our time and catching up.

At the summit we were met with wind and plenty of snow coming down, in addition to zero visibility. We took some photos and headed down to the Ranger’s hut to shelter out of the wind to have a beer and some snacks. We noticed that the cabin has been badly vandalized with folks carving their names into it etc, and the windows are all boarded up. It appears it is now under surveillance. It’s sad that people feel the need to “make their mark” everywhere they go and damage public property.

My new snowshoes are being slightly disagreeable at the straps keep coming undone, I’m sure this will ease when they get some “memory” of where I want them to stay.

We got a little bit of a view just below the summit on our way out and some sunshine peaking through, though it was brief.

We did some epic butt sliding on the way down and made good time, seeing a pair of women with two young boys on their way up when we were close to getting back to the car.

Nice hike followed by a fantastic greasy spoon lunch at Scotty’s Truck Stop on the way home!