Thanks, annamigl for the intel! I read it just before leaving the house last night. Anyway...microspikes are the ticket. The trail through the forest is well packed and melting out in the lower reaches. The treeline area might be the most "fun" part as there are several paths to choose from. At the first major decision point, best to go right and it'll turn into a deeper trench and follow the summer trail up some switchbacks. In my case, I went left, went farther up the valley, and when I emerged from the trees, I ended up continuing left, then ascending the slope to the left of the drainage that is left of the summer trail. Then I angled up and right for a good while to reconnect with the switchbacks just below the summit ridge. It worked just fine--plenty of hard snow patches to walk across in your spikes, or soft tundra to aerate, and maybe a bit of scree and boulders. I was back at the trailhead by 9:35a.m. (watched moonset/sunrise at summit) so the snow was perfect for me. If you go later or temps rise, you might want flotation--especially in that treeline area...although it seems to be getting traffic and thus more packed (11 total on trail today).
|
