Cold morning, an adventure ahead

 

Coldest morning yet, up here. Single digits at best! Wasn’t long, though, before I was taking some layers off. I’ve had trouble, in the past, with cold feet. I realized that my summer sock setup, with a light liner, and a hiking sock over that, was no good for winter. The inner liner was wicking moisture off, which was OK, but that process also makes my feet colder (the evaporative process, OK for summer). So now I use one thick sock, and it’s working great. It seems as though the weather up here is almost always cloudy in the winter, and today was no different! I keep saying this, but the snow just gets deeper and deeper, which is OK by me! I needed microspikes right away, due to a thick icy base layer. It actually wasn’t until the third Brother that I really needed my snow shoes. After that, there were drifts, in spots, over two feet deep. This is the fourth time I’ve climbed Big Slide, and every time I say “Whoever measured the distance to this peak is way off!”. It feels more like 5 or 6 miles, and not 4. Maybe I’m just getting old. The last 1/2 mile is as steep as ever, and I probably should have changed back to crampons. Also, my ice axe would have come in handy, instead it was sitting in my trunk. I just did the usual scramble and crawl up the mountain trick! Works every time. There was at least 18 inches of snow, and ice underneath. As I neared the top, I cut over to look at the slide. It’s really impressive when covered with ice and snow, and the wind whips around. There wasn’t much to see, at the top, as by now, the weather was changing for the worse. I started back down, sliding on my butt a few times! Wasn’t as bad going down, as up. On the way back, I was surprised to meet a fairly large group, coming up. I was surprised, in part, because it was getting pretty late, and looked like it would be dark in an hour or two. As it was, I ended up needing my headlamp as soon as I reached the Brothers. This time of the year you really need to start out a lot earlier to beat the darkness. Oh well, maybe next time!

Catch ya later