10 miles of hiking • 3500' elevation gain •
Started at Aldrich Butte to avoid mud on the Dick Thomas trail. Went up West Ridge - a couple of patches of snow, easy to avoid. Heard there was postholing at the top of the talus field on Heartbreak Ridge. No snow up top at the Gorge end, but the back end was totally covered. Went down the usual NW ridge descent - probably not a great idea, since it was totally snowed in and involved postholing down to the ridge and then again for the second half of the distance to the powerlines, which took forever. From the powerline road, the PCT had snow for a while too, though the trail is well defined. My feet were soaked and freezing, so bring snowshoes, boots/gaiters, or save the NW ridge till later in the season.
