Hiked up / skied down Bessemer Mountain. Unexpectedly lovely day! Trail is manageable, although it's covered in snow-- snowshoes strongly recommended if you're going higher than the quarry at 1500'. Snow is very wet and heavy. Clear snowshoe track all the way. Did not see a single other person.
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I brought my downhill skis & boots, snowshoes, and microspikes, all in my external frame pack (I can't yet justify a backcountry ski setup). Figured it'd be a training hike, if nothing else.
Started from Oxbow Loop parking lot at 11:00 am. Snow started almost immediately, at the first bridge a few hundred feet in, but was manageable without traction for a while. Consistent snow started where the road first meets the CCC trail. I stayed in boots until I was past the quarry, just before the first washout crossing. I put on snowshoes there because I was postholing, and stayed in them the rest of the way up. The washouts were no issue. Past the washouts, the trail can get a little frustrating because of small trees in the trail that need to be navigated around, but they were more of an annoyance than an inconvenience. Stopped just short of the summit, at about 4600', because I was worried about the heavy snow on the steep summit on a warm day. Also I was coming up on my turnaround time. I took a few pictures and lounged in the sun, then switched into skis and headed back down the hill. (I immediately ate it in the heavy snow. First ski run of 2021 babyyyy.) Flew down the mountain, and then ended up walking out in my ski boots from about the intersection with the CCC trail. Enough of the snow had melted during the sunny day that a lot of the road had become un-ski-able. Overall, a solid day; would do again.
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11:00 am - Left car in Oxbow Loop lot
2:45 pm - Stopped at 4600' (3.25 hrs hiking/snowshoeing, 0.5 hrs break)
3:20 - Started downhill on skis
4:45 - Returned to car (~1 hr skiing, 0.5 hrs hiking)
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