I led my first Saturday Snowshoe of the season for the Cascadians today. We started on Bethel Ridge Rd #1500 and then turned off on Rd #312 that took us to the short spur (Rd #315) to Tieton Pond. It was close to a bllizzard in Yakima, but by the time we started up the road there was only light, intermittent snow and patches of blue with moments of direct sun. We walked on 3 or 4 inches of light powder over a very solid base. We made it up to the pond in 1 hour & 15 min so we walked around the pond before having lunch. Every now and then we had nice views through the clouds of snow-plastered Bethel Ridge. Since it was still pretty early when we finished lunch, we walked up Rd #312 to the junction with Rd #1304, then returned the way we came. Though this is snowmobile country, there was too little snow at the bottom for them to be interested. We saw a group of 4 or 5 elk on the way up, but the only people we saw was one other couple when we were almost back to the car. A great time was had by all.
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