PA Ridgerunner
Active member
Saturday, Feb. 16
2" of fresh snow over hard packed base at the start of the hike. We opted for snowshoes, but microspikes would have been fine, if not preferable all the way to the ridge at about 3100'. The trail to Big Indian had was blown in a bit, with drifts between 12"-18" so the snowshoes were helpful. The walk out to Eagle could have easily been done in microspikes but it didn't seem worth it to remove the shoes. The descent back to the Shandaken Lean-to was a bit to rocky for the snowshoes, which we removed at the lean-to. Microspikes were fine for the hike out. Stream crossings were a little sketchy, but all were do-able. Just because of carelessness, I managed to submerge each foot almost to the top of the boot, but my Keen-dry Goretex knock-offs (and gaiters) did their job, keeping my feet dry.
Nice day for a hike.
2" of fresh snow over hard packed base at the start of the hike. We opted for snowshoes, but microspikes would have been fine, if not preferable all the way to the ridge at about 3100'. The trail to Big Indian had was blown in a bit, with drifts between 12"-18" so the snowshoes were helpful. The walk out to Eagle could have easily been done in microspikes but it didn't seem worth it to remove the shoes. The descent back to the Shandaken Lean-to was a bit to rocky for the snowshoes, which we removed at the lean-to. Microspikes were fine for the hike out. Stream crossings were a little sketchy, but all were do-able. Just because of carelessness, I managed to submerge each foot almost to the top of the boot, but my Keen-dry Goretex knock-offs (and gaiters) did their job, keeping my feet dry.
Nice day for a hike.
