8.5 miles of hiking • 2750' elevation gain •
It was a bitterly cold morning in the Gorge, but SR-14 was in pretty good shape. We got to BRSP before 9am to find two cars already in the lot; one of them already sporting a ticket for improperly displayed Discover Pass. Ground was frozen hard, and the restrooms were bolted shut. The climb up Hamilton was mostly on snow and ice. She put on YakTrax in the parking lot, and I put on my microspikes by Hardy Falls. Both of us wore them back to the jeep. (The 1/2" of ice on the parking lot may have been the most treacherous part of all!)
Much of the way up was buffeted by pretty strong winds. Cresting the summit to that magnificent view of Table Mountain and Mount Adams, we were hit full-on by the fury of the east wind through the Gorge. It was beautiful, anyway. Moving on over to the saddle, one of the more lovely views in the Gorge, the wind only became more fierce. Blew the hats off both of us, and swirled ice crystals into cyclonic funnel clouds. Just about knocked me over, at one point.
Snow along the upper ridges, and back in the woods on Don's Cutoff, was deep, fluffy powder. As light as imaginable. No more than 8-10" deep, except where piled up by wind. The forest was beautiful, with some lingering golden vine maples still disputing the fact that winter has arrived. We were back at the trailhead about 1, and in town by 2. Heckuva way to spend the morning!
This little loop remains a wonderful favorite of mine, and is always fun to see in every different weather scenario!
