U
Unregistered
Guest
A great hike and trail conditions for a day with blustery cold winds up high. I had to put a balaclava on for the section near and on S. Hancock. The trail was mostly a nice trench with packed powdery snow, barebootable but better in snowshoes with crampons, especially up on the ridge where there was drifting and on the way down from S Hancock and out which was a great snowshoe boogie. The mighty tough little dog had to do some work to get up N Hancock since there was new snow on the slope around footprints, but after that it was a perfect pupper path for racing back and forth, letting his inner schnauzer run free. No problem blowdowns but there are some soup strainers on the ridge, and given the cold and their low nuisance I didn't get the saw out. Streams are low but a couple are still open requiring easy rock hopping and in one place a short bushwack avoids 2 crossings. The parking area was full but maybe there were skiers since fewer were on the trails. We had the trails to ourselves most of the time which was great, and happily ran into three hikers from hikes past including two very nice women the little dog loves to greet in his exuberant way.
