Snow Peak — Friday, Nov. 1, 2019

Road to the (summer) TH is in great shape, any car could make it provided the serious winter snows haven't fallen yet. Minimal parking but a nice and relatively new looking restroom, fully stocked. I'd guess within the next few weeks the trail would need to be accessed from the winter TH at the snow-park.

The shorter summer trail is in fine condition, and while it climbs steadily, the grade is quite gentle. The first section had a beautiful carpet of fallen larch needles and as we passed out of the trees, we could look back into the valley and see that many of the larch still had needles on them, soft golden rivers flowing down the green pine slopes. We started out in the late afternoon, and the sun/warmer daytime temps had melted the frozen ground, making for a few slippery mud spots. Some snow on the trail nearing the cabin, about 3-4" in places over a layer of ice, however the snow was dry and "grippy", so traction was no problem with good hiking boots. Night temps in the 20's meant that everything was frozen solid in the early daylight hours, but we never needed to put on microspikes.

Snow levels at the cabin averaged about 5-6", and we had great fun identifying all the animal tracks. Lots of deer, coyote and what may have been bobcat footprints, along with lots of smaller animals. Around sunset in the evenings, we would sit on the cabin porch and watch the antics of snowshoe hares frolicking in the snow. The hares were most of the way into their winter white coats. Lots of birds were active too, including an owl who flew right past us with his bunny-snack on the trail. 

The vividly colorful sunsets were fantastic, but my favorite time was after dark when the multitudes of stars mirrored the twinkling of daylight on snow crystals. No sound, no light except the moon and stars, just stillness in nature.