Silver, Abiel, Tinkham, Catherine
Silver, easier than I remembered. Go when there's some fog/mist so you can't see the endless trail ahead of you. :)
Abiel, worse than I remembered. There are two major climbing spots, plus many others, and near half a dozen rough spots I forgot. Descending was easier since the dirt surface was a bit moist.
Tinkham, initially an easy ascent but rapidly got much much worse. It's not as treacherous as Abiel nor as "technical", but it's more challenging as there are spots without handholds. For the descent I had to get out my poles and stuff them into the ground to create steps.
The weather which dissipated west of the crest remained as clouds almost the entire day. Pictures were not that great, and I was well upon Catherine before the sun appeared. Clouds were aloft, however, and the fog layer thinned below, so the valleys were visible.
For most I would recommend descending the silver trail proper to reach the junction with Abiel. It's only an additional 25m of ascent, not much longer, significantly dryer, and for most will be faster. Today I admit to trying the south silver route and ended up spending a good deal of time reaching the Abiel trail. Normally I proceed west, but half the time end up too far north and 50m down that saddle and wanted to try the direct route; the trail is simply too far south at that point.
Several pikae, but too foggy and they moved off too quickly to get pictures.
Road conditions were worse than remembered, with deeper potholes, the same washboards. The slot around the sharp corner has deepened and widened as well, and the road above it is now more open and getting worse; I had to "crawl" through one spot. That said, a car can get up here if it takes its time.
11.90mi 1800m
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