cone peak snowshoe

[Aardvark]

My first snowshoe outing yesterday - with the sun shining, and fresh snow I ventured up the road to Tombstone Pass on Hwy 20 east of Sweet Home - The Cone Peak trail winds through the forest for a couple miles before breaking onto an open ridge at 5000' - I wasn't sure if there would be enough snow yet - no worries there - a solid 24-30" from 5000' to the top at 5800.

It took a few tries to get the shoes fitted right and I had a couple epic face plants on ther way up - the shoes really reward careful technique and punish sloppiness - not a bad thing I suppose. Going uphill is certainly work, but I could never have got as far in without them. It's neat to be able to pick your path without worry of damaging the fragile meadows up here.







Iron Mtn to the SW...








Mt. Washington......












View to the WSW - Marys Peak on the right............








View South towards the McKenzie drainage....


















I had purchased some Tubbs Frontier 30" models for work last spring but never used them - I think I may be a new convert - it opens up alot more option for winter trips.

[shawjr]

Nice report, and great pics! looks like you had great weather too. I can't wait to get out the shoes...

[Crusak]

It took a few tries to get the shoes fitted right and I had a couple epic face plants on ther way up - the shoes really reward careful technique and punish sloppiness - not a bad thing I suppose. Going uphill is certainly work, but I could never have got as far in without them. It's neat to be able to pick your path without worry of damaging the fragile meadows up here.

Excellent description! Mirrors my experience last year when I did a bit of snowshoeing for the first time.

I'm really liking your pictures too. Looks like a great place for wintertime hiking.

[kelkev]

Most awesome! Inspiration for me to get over this cold and get back out into the great outdoors!

[texasbb]

One of these days I'm gonna break down and give snowshoeing a try. Posts like this are great encouragement, Aardvark!

[romann]

Nice pictures - looks like great terrain up there! I never even heard about Cone Peak before reading your report.

[Aardvark]

Thanks for the comments - I've been inspired by the reports here many times it feels good to be on the other end!


My camera is a 12 year old Olympus with about 4 pixels of resolution - the inspiration must come from the viewer.



The Echo mtn area around Tombstone pass is pretty cool - it is the most biodiverse area of the cascades and the trails have low usage. You can walk the ridge from cone peak to echo Mtn (3 summits) - and stay above 5000' for several miles.

Cone peak




Echo Mtn - south peak









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[Splintercat]

Excellent report, Aardvark! I'm looking forward to snowshoeing, too -- though I need to pick up some gaiters (mine were stolen in my Lolo Pass break-in last month). Agreed, uphill is challenging, especially if you're breaking trail... good cardio!

I transitioned to modern snowshoes sometime in the 90s (e.g., made from aluminum and nylon as opposed to oak and rawhide -- I had a vintage pair of Bear Paws!), and one of the thing that took me while to get used to was the relatively weightlessness of modern shoes -- much different than old-school shoes or skis, and for some reason I found myself getting caught up in them more. Of course, the only real rule in snowshoes is "don't try to go backward!"

My camera is a 12 year old Olympus with about 4 pixels of resolution - the inspiration must come from the viewer.

They look pretty darned nice to me! Well done!

Tom