Tom Rankin
Well-known member
Wow, it was windy today! About as much wind as I have ever had to endure for the course of an entire hike. Not saying it was the MPH, which I have experienced much more of, but just sustained.
We started at 8:45 from Windy Valley and the wind was right there with us, even on the drive up for that matter. Up the steep slope and then up and down endlessly till the junction, then up to the summit in 3 hours. WIND all the way. A few blowdowns to negotiate. The trail was almost bullet hard, but with a new coat of snow, it was hard to see where the very narrow track was, so we frequently fell off. Good thing we had snowshoes. More on that later!
A quick break, and then over the Bruin's Windway. When we got to the crack, I climbed up w/o crampons, but Laurie wanted to put hers on. However, she could not get them adjusted, so she ended up walking around. It really did not take too long to go around towards the reservoir side. While she went around I layered up, because I was cold from the WIND!
10 seconds later, more or less, and we were at the summit of Cornell. While snacking, not 1 but 2 parties came by. The first group had worn crampons all the was from WV! Ouch, my ankles! But they looked like capable hikers, and we wished them well on their traverse. As we were leaving 3 young guys showed up with jeans, and bare boots! They had climbed the Crack w/o any traction aid! It was amazing! They must have been rock jocks. They summited, and were almost down the crack when we returned to the bottom of the go-around. Then they flew down the trail and we never saw them again. But we could see their post holes! They HAD to posthole to avoid the icy trail in many places. It was funny and sad at the same time. Oh well....
We were back down by 3:15. Did I mention it was WINDY?!
We started at 8:45 from Windy Valley and the wind was right there with us, even on the drive up for that matter. Up the steep slope and then up and down endlessly till the junction, then up to the summit in 3 hours. WIND all the way. A few blowdowns to negotiate. The trail was almost bullet hard, but with a new coat of snow, it was hard to see where the very narrow track was, so we frequently fell off. Good thing we had snowshoes. More on that later!
A quick break, and then over the Bruin's Windway. When we got to the crack, I climbed up w/o crampons, but Laurie wanted to put hers on. However, she could not get them adjusted, so she ended up walking around. It really did not take too long to go around towards the reservoir side. While she went around I layered up, because I was cold from the WIND!
10 seconds later, more or less, and we were at the summit of Cornell. While snacking, not 1 but 2 parties came by. The first group had worn crampons all the was from WV!
Ouch, my ankles! But they looked like capable hikers, and we wished them well on their traverse. As we were leaving 3 young guys showed up with jeans, and bare boots! They had climbed the Crack w/o any traction aid! It was amazing! They must have been rock jocks. They summited, and were almost down the crack when we returned to the bottom of the go-around. Then they flew down the trail and we never saw them again. But we could see their post holes! They HAD to posthole to avoid the icy trail in many places. It was funny and sad at the same time. Oh well....We were back down by 3:15. Did I mention it was WINDY?!
