11 miles of hiking • 3000' elevation gain •
Intensely monochromatic, but lovely, day on an old favorite! Only crossed paths with ten (or fewer) folks all day long, but two of them were old-time PH TFFs - so fun to see them up there! No ice anywhere, but snow from the trailhead on up. It didn't really start accumulating until fairly high, with the depth increasing from about a 1 inch at 1500' to a solid 2 feet by 2000'! Most of the route was well beaten down, so no snowshoes were needed. The traverse from summit to saddle was "fun" in its own way, with weighed down branches blocking the way in many spots. Don's Cutoff was just plain fun. And, as I was coming back down the jeep trail, the sky seemed to be clearing, so I diverted for another climb up to the saddle. (Turns out visibility had increased from about 50' to nearly 500'. Heh.) Just another terrific day up there!
