Hardy Ridge / Phlox Point 23-Feb-2014

[VanMarmot]

The forecast had foul weather coming in later this afternoon but was holding open the possibility of OK conditions in the morning. So it seemed possible to climb up to Phlox Point (the high point on Hardy Ridge) and get some shots of Hood as the weather rolled in. Leaving my Discover Pass prominently displayed, I left the equestrian TH and headed up the W side of the sun-dappled Hardy Ridge Loop trail.



I was surprised (and pleased) to see they'd built a new piece of trail between the road and the trail up to the ridge. My Discover dollars at work!



There was some snow on the ridge proper but it was never very deep and had already been well-tracked by Saturday's hikers. This gave me plenty of time to watch the incoming weather surround and torment Hood.









For all the goings on over on Hood, it was surprisingly warm and almost calm on Hardy Ridge. If I'd brought lunch, I could have eaten it and taken a nap in the sun. But, no, it was planned as a short hike, so back down I went. By the time I'd gotten back to the TH, it was as though a featureless gray blanket had been pulled across the sky - no sun, no views, no swirling clouds, nada. Time to head home for lunch. 9.4 mi RT, 2000' EG.

[pablo]

Wow, those photos of Hood with the clouds turned out really well,

Thx,

--Paul

[Eric Peterson]

Nice, reminds me I need to further amortize my DP within the next weeks or so

Great pictures of Hood for sure!

[Splintercat]

Beautiful photos! Hood was a lot nicer today than yesterday, that's for sure! Thanks for posting -- at least I got my Hood fix vicariously this weekend..!

Tom