TMax
New member
- Joined
- Feb 12, 2005
- Messages
- 589
- Reaction score
- 85
Started out at the Devil's Path on route 214. Had a great good morning from HarryK who was passing by on his way to breakfast before climbing Plateau. 
The first part of the climb up the steep section was slippery with wet snow, leaves and small moving rocks. Ran into one guy on his way back down. He was in jeans and became concerned as he started to work up a sweat and retain the moisture. With rain in the forecast he wanted to avoid trouble. A few minutes later, I ran into another guy who was looking for car keys . In spite of other's bummer of a morning, I made good time up the mountain even though my dog Luke had to wait at the top of each pitch for me to catch up with him! Following the relatively level traverse around Hunter's shoulder got a little cold and windy. There was very little snow with boot tracks that were sometimes slushy and sometimes frozen, making for the occasional "whoops" maneuver . Flew over past the leanto and started the bushwack. Thanks to a post from Peakbagger, I was able to avoid some rambling traverses by a previous hiker. Snow was much deeper in this area but still no need for snowshoes. Got sidetracked only once and just below the cannister I ran into John (sorry, I can't remember your VFTT user name!) who was a little disoriented by a gash in his ear that was bleeding quite a bit. He was heading back down as he had been unable to find the cannister. He opted to follow me for a little while and it was a good thing the mountain goddess was with me today as we came upon the cannister pretty quickly. Fast hike back down to the leanto where I took a short break to rehydrate and feed the dog his energy snacks. Then I took off for Hunter. The snow maintained a good ground cover the entire way but still no need for snowshoes. The deepest stuff I ran into was on the summit of Hunter when I stepped off to try to take a unique camera angle of the firetower. It was a relatively quick trip back down. It started snowing shortly after I left the summit and came down quite hard for awhile. Below 2500' it turned to rain. Negotiating the steep section leading down to the trailhead took some careful foot placement (and creative pole use!) but it was quite manageable.
When-oh-when will winter arrive????
The first part of the climb up the steep section was slippery with wet snow, leaves and small moving rocks. Ran into one guy on his way back down. He was in jeans and became concerned as he started to work up a sweat and retain the moisture. With rain in the forecast he wanted to avoid trouble. A few minutes later, I ran into another guy who was looking for car keys . In spite of other's bummer of a morning, I made good time up the mountain even though my dog Luke had to wait at the top of each pitch for me to catch up with him! Following the relatively level traverse around Hunter's shoulder got a little cold and windy. There was very little snow with boot tracks that were sometimes slushy and sometimes frozen, making for the occasional "whoops" maneuver . Flew over past the leanto and started the bushwack. Thanks to a post from Peakbagger, I was able to avoid some rambling traverses by a previous hiker. Snow was much deeper in this area but still no need for snowshoes. Got sidetracked only once and just below the cannister I ran into John (sorry, I can't remember your VFTT user name!) who was a little disoriented by a gash in his ear that was bleeding quite a bit. He was heading back down as he had been unable to find the cannister. He opted to follow me for a little while and it was a good thing the mountain goddess was with me today as we came upon the cannister pretty quickly. Fast hike back down to the leanto where I took a short break to rehydrate and feed the dog his energy snacks. Then I took off for Hunter. The snow maintained a good ground cover the entire way but still no need for snowshoes. The deepest stuff I ran into was on the summit of Hunter when I stepped off to try to take a unique camera angle of the firetower. It was a relatively quick trip back down. It started snowing shortly after I left the summit and came down quite hard for awhile. Below 2500' it turned to rain. Negotiating the steep section leading down to the trailhead took some careful foot placement (and creative pole use!) but it was quite manageable. When-oh-when will winter arrive????
