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Opening pic:
I'm afraid I'm a little late on trail conditions as they are changing rapidly. What I can tell you though, is the snow was solid, but post-holed by previous hikers. Any new soft snow on top would hide these holes and make it a little more difficult to navigate.
I thought it was going to be my first trip up Silver Star without seeing another person, but alas, about 20 min before returning to my car I came across one other hiker on his way up.
The trail is in good shape, with only a few areas of hard packed snow along the trail until you get in the forest near the summit, then it was solid snow walking, but again, firm snow. I used some spikes on the way down to reduce the risk of slipping.
There was just a dusting of snow remaining on the trees as it was very windy.
This was the first area of appreciable snow cover on the trail:
First views of the 3 mountains together:
So different from the meadows covered in flowers in the summer!
Approaching the summit, decidedly more snowy:
Love me some snowy tree scenes!
Trail up to the saddle between the summits:
Furry friend footprint
Summit views, strong winds occasionally, very cold!
Trail from Bluff Mountain:
Little Baldy:
Snow-covered Ed's Trail, I can imagine the back side of this is very dicey at best for hiking!
Rainier:
The road down:
Toward the bottom it was like spring out of the wind and later in the day.
I would not recommend Ed's trail as it looks like several areas the snow is too steep to safely navigate.
2.12.18 Silver Star
- weathercrazy
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2.12.18 Silver Star
Tyler Mode
http://www.naturespixpdx.com
http://www.naturespixpdx.com
Re: 2.12.18 Silver Star
Beautiful day. Beautiful photos!
- Splintercat
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Re: 2.12.18 Silver Star
Great photos, Tyler! What a difference a week makes, too... I suspect that trailhead is out of reach for awhile with a couple feet of snow (or more) on it! I really liked the second photo -- nice light and dusting of snow on a grove of young Noble fir. My favorite place to be!
Tom
Tom