Two days later and my calves are still very sore, but a great hike.
Arrived at the trailhead on Monday morning at 9am and we were the first ones in the lot. Saw a total of 3 other hikers all day.
The first section is steep and snow-free: 2100 vertical feet in 1.7 miles up to the Y in the trail at horse camp. Some peekaboo views of the lake through the trees from some lovely little log benches.
We did the summit loop counterclockwise, snow present everywhere above 3400 feet. Quite deep still (3 feet maybe) in places. We had boots and poles, and carried microspikes and gaiters though we didn’t use them. Much of the summit loop is well marked with orange markers on tree trunks and branches though we lost track of the markers as we neared the summit and descended - helpful to have a GPS track to follow for the top.
Reached the summit in 3 hours, lunched, and got some views of Lake Cushman through fast-moving clouds. Continuing on the the loop, the snow was hard-packed enough at 12pm/1pm that plunge-stepping down was not really possible, so going down was not quite the respite we were hoping for. The trail is all treed, and it was cloudy so the snow didn’t soften up for us. A bit of post-holing at some hidden tree branch snow wells.
The car lot was full when we returned but it seems most people were parked just to go to the lake as we didn’t see them on the trail. Lovely spot!
Comments