Mount Rose — Saturday, Jan. 13, 2001

Olympic Peninsula > Hood Canal

Our party of five included the namesake dog Rose, on her first hike. At 10:15 we were the second car at the trailhead. The weather was quite good - mostly cloudy with occasional fog, but no rain and no wind and every now and then a welcome shaft of sunlight. Rosie's big moment came early - crossing the first log bridge right after the trailhead. With a little encouragement from ahead and behind, she made it. We had plenty of time, so we meandered upward through the trees young and old, and wondered whether a pair at about the halfway point are Alaska Cedars - if so they are big ones. The trail was in GREAT shape, which was especially welcome because of the relatively steep grade. Just a bit above the horse camp where the summit loop branches, around 3200' elevation we encountered snow. The lower reaches of snow were a bit icy and slippery, especially for those sporting tennies on the feet! Further up the snow deepened and there was a layer of powder on the surface maybe 5"" thick. Obviously a number of hikers had preceeded us, this day and before, so route finding was trivial. Had lunch at the top, enjoying brief peek-a-boo views to the peaks west and north through ever changing clouds. Descending was tough on the out-of-shape winter knees, but otherwise no problem. Reached the parking lot at 4:00 PM. All in all, a fine way to spend a January day. Probably not many January's when the trail's out from under the snow at 3000 feet! Saw three other parties, one of them with many people and dogs, over the route, and found our car had plenty of company back at the trailhead.