Since Guanella Pass is closed it is a ~1.5 hike form the parking lot to where the hike normally begins in the summer. Started at 7:05 am on Saturday November 28th from the parking. Hiking Guanella Pass it took us about 45 min to get to the official 'trailhead start. Very mild and easy hike through the willows from the trailhead. We made it to about 1 mile/ 1,000 feet from the summit- the wind was starting to pick up, we couldn't easily see the trail due to snowdrifts and our pups were getting cold so we turned around. Total round trip was 9.3 miles 4.5 hours- I would imagine the summit and back would have been about 6 hours or so.
The snow/trail was compact until about mile 4- then there were snow drifts across the trail so we did post hole a bit. I had spikes on, my two hiking partners didn't, and snowshoes were not needed.
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