Manastash Ridge - Boy Scout Trail, Manastash Ridge — Sunday, Jan. 28, 2024

Nobody in my group really wanted to hike today. The rain and fog has gotten us down. But we got out anyway and I’m so glad we did! We parked at 9:00 am at the trailhead on Cove Road, which was shrouded in dense fog. The trail is covered in snow, slush & ice from the start, but it is only a couple of inches deep and well packed. However there is pooled water and and slippery patches, so we put our microspikes on right away and then had no trouble combined with our waterproof shoes.

It was very warm hovering around 40 degrees and I was able to wear only my base layer throughout the whole hike. About 2/3 of the way up the trail we climbed above the inversion, and were greeted with warm sun and blue sky. It was stunning! The hills sparkled in the sunlight and the inversion turned the valley into a white ocean.

We passed about 6-8 parties over the three hour period we were out, many with dogs. Everyone was polite and observed trail etiquette. It took about 90 minutes to get to the top on Boy Scout. Longer than normal due to trail conditions. We spent about 30 minutes at the top and it took about an hour to get down on Boyscout again. Sometimes it is hard to motivate yourself to get out, but we are always glad when we do.