We left the Sandbeach Lake trailhead at 5:20 under starry skies and calm conditions. Warm-ish conditions continued as the morning wore on – and the large bear we saw in Meeker Meadows was enjoying the sun while foraging. It may have been a sow with cubs as we thought maybe we saw a second one nearby – but we never could confirm that. Fortunately she was at least 200 yards off and didn’t see us for quite some time. When she spotted us she didn’t seem concerned and put her head back down. We veered away
We saw the first clouds roll across the ridge top from the west around 9:30 or 10, about the time we neared Dragon’s Egg Rock, at about 12,200’. At that location visibility to the west is obscured by the south ridge. We gained the ridgeline itself at about 12,800’ where for the first time we could see what was really going on to the west – an obvious fall-style snowstorm was moving in and closer than I had expected. It was clear we might see some snow or at least rain at some point, but it was not clear how soon.
We reached the summit at 10:50 and the skies were still reasonable. We could still see numerous parties on Longs, and at least one party of two working to the Loft for their descent. But within 5 minutes saw the first snowflakes. And then the wind came. We had been considering crossing the Knife Edge and descending via Meeker Ridge, but it took all of about 5 seconds to figure out that was not the best plan for the day.
Left the summit at 11:00 - less than 10 minutes from okay to not-so-okay. Visibility was quickly dropping so we took a few pictures and beat a hasty retreat back down the South Ridge. The snow was not heavy but the wind was strong, blowing it all straight side-ways making for somewhat difficult hiking, and the rock becoming wet made for ‘fun’ down-climbing.
I kept thinking about the people we could see over on the summit of Longs. We had maybe a 1,000’ feet of tricky footing and almost all of it at little to no exposure. Those on Longs also had about 1,000’ vert to descend to the Keyhole but I would think the Homestretch and Narrows would have been a little spooky right about then and I was glad I was on Meeker instead.
Several loud ka-booms of thunder kept us moving as quickly as we could – which was not all that quick with the slick rock. Once we got off the ridge off course we were more protected and finally the sun came back out by the time we got back to Meeker Meadows where we took a break for lunch.
But the sun didn’t last too long – the clouds thickened again and soon we were in moderate rain which lasted a good hour or more as we hiked back down along Hunter’s Creek. Things dried out again and we were in short sleeves by the time we got back to the trailhead.
5-1/2 hours up and 4-1/2 down. 10 hours RT and what felt like a weather change for every hour.
