Tom Rankin
Well-known member
Laurie and I met Snickers and Brian at the end of Platte Clove Road around 8:15. The p.a. was plowed and easily accessed. The weather was nippy (10F or so), with light breezes, and clear blue skies. A 4-wheeler had been up the road the day before or so. There was a dusting to an inch of new powder over the tracks.
The tire tracks made it a little tough to walk on a firm surface, since they were so narrow. After the first turn, they kept going straight. We went slowly, laughing and chatting, a typical Snickers hike!
We decided to take the Twilight trail, the old trail from the North. The approach is longer, but the ascent is less formidable. This seems to be the preferred route in the Winter. Solo Joe had missed the turn off a few days before and so the Twilight trail was unbroken. There was a small cairn and a few faint blue blazes to be seen, FWIW. It seems no one had been up there for quite a while. We floundered around for a while at the bottom, finding a few old blazes here and there, but getting off the trail for sure. Some serious 'trail breaking' ensued, with Brian doing the bulk of the work. With a little guidance from me, Brian regained the trail, and things were a little easier. We still had a lot of fresh snow to plow thru, up to 3 feet at times, but averaging a foot or so. Finally, the grade eased and we knew we were near the top. Sure enough, we hit the summit clearing, and decided to head down to Hurricane Ledge. After a few dead ends, we found the ledge and were rewarded with probably the best views of the Winter so far. We ate and drank, and soaked in the sunshine and distant vistas.
The hike back down was routine, except for having to avoid the snow shark! We did notice a set of Yuk-trax had tried to get to Blueberry Ledge. Then we met 2 snowmobile-rs struggling to get one of their rigs going. The plus side of this is the trail was a little smoother after this. Just before the trail head (around 2:45), another bare booter passed us, heading we knew not where!
We celebrated at Cave Mountain Brewery. Their beer just seems to keep getting better and better!
The tire tracks made it a little tough to walk on a firm surface, since they were so narrow. After the first turn, they kept going straight. We went slowly, laughing and chatting, a typical Snickers hike!
We decided to take the Twilight trail, the old trail from the North. The approach is longer, but the ascent is less formidable. This seems to be the preferred route in the Winter. Solo Joe had missed the turn off a few days before and so the Twilight trail was unbroken. There was a small cairn and a few faint blue blazes to be seen, FWIW. It seems no one had been up there for quite a while. We floundered around for a while at the bottom, finding a few old blazes here and there, but getting off the trail for sure. Some serious 'trail breaking' ensued, with Brian doing the bulk of the work. With a little guidance from me, Brian regained the trail, and things were a little easier. We still had a lot of fresh snow to plow thru, up to 3 feet at times, but averaging a foot or so. Finally, the grade eased and we knew we were near the top. Sure enough, we hit the summit clearing, and decided to head down to Hurricane Ledge. After a few dead ends, we found the ledge and were rewarded with probably the best views of the Winter so far. We ate and drank, and soaked in the sunshine and distant vistas.
The hike back down was routine, except for having to avoid the snow shark! We did notice a set of Yuk-trax had tried to get to Blueberry Ledge. Then we met 2 snowmobile-rs struggling to get one of their rigs going. The plus side of this is the trail was a little smoother after this. Just before the trail head (around 2:45), another bare booter passed us, heading we knew not where!
We celebrated at Cave Mountain Brewery. Their beer just seems to keep getting better and better!
