This is a beautiful trail with rolling elevation gain that winds its way through heavy forest as it follows the Cooper River. But it is tough in deep snow!
There was a trail broken about halfway to Cooper Lake on Wednesday, and I broke trail the rest of the way to the lake. It started snowing Wednesday night/Thursday morning so there are probably several inches over my footprints by now.
Snow was deep, I was in up to my thigh at times even with snowshoes. Use caution for the several blowdowns across the trail on the western portion. There are several inches of snow covering them and also creating hidden, tree well-like snow cavities. So do some probing with a trekking pole before trying to do negotiate these. The trail itself was easy to follow despite the snow depth. There was only one part where I got off trail in the dark (I had a headlamp of course) but I found it again. Between the river to the south and Polallie Ridge to the north it is hard to get too much off track.
I planned to camp at Owhi CG, just off the Cooper River Road, but I couldn't find it. If there was a sign I missed it. So I just made camp in the parking lot.
If you belong to the WH&C or PNWOW FB groups you can read the gory details of how this trip went sideways for me the second day. But that was my fault, not the trail's. :)
I encountered the tree in the photo as I was exhausted from breaking trail. I think we each understood the other perfectly at that point. LOL
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