Mount Catherine — Sunday, Jan. 23, 2022

My hike to Mt Catherine started from I-90 Exit 47. Since the snow dump blocked the road to Annette Lake trailhead, the extra warm-up\cool-down walk added slightly over a mile to round up a 12-mile round trip.

It was snow all the way from begining to the end. I used to hike this loop in March when snow depth is low and firm, but the weather was so good that I wanted to pull it off early.

Annette Lake trail was a solid snow track in the morning, thanks to snowshoers who padded it down well so others only need microspikes. Around 2.5 miles from where I started, after counting 8 switchback turns, I put on snowshoes and went off trail to climb ridge. The snow pack was much deeper and therefore more open spaces than March. There were about 1~2 inches powder on top of firm layer, giving me impression that I might just switch to microspikes when climbing Mt Catherine.

I got to Ollalie Meadows area before 11AM. After a brief rest I put on microspikes again and replaced hiking pole with ice ax to open track on the ridgeline to Catherine. I followed my last years GPS route except that I climbed along the ridgeline more closely. About one hour into the climb I finally gained the ridge, now it's different challenge, knee-deep postholing. I was a little too exhausted to switch to snowshoes, also hoping things would get better as I went up higher. It was like 20 postholes in every 100 steps, and they were all unpredictable. I thought about quitting and turning back many times but eventually decided to tough it out. Luckily there were no tree bombs to worry about this time, just focused on slogging up and forward. I topped at 1:45PM, about 5 hours 20 minutes and 6.40 miles since I left I-90.

On the way down I switched to snowshoes promptly.

Basic gears required for this hike: microspikes, snowshoes, gaiters, and ice axe, and waterproof everything: shoes, pants, and I got two pairs of waterproof gloves. And don't forget GPS app and compass.