Table Mountain, north ridge, deep fresh snow
Posted: November 11th, 2017, 8:09 pm
I was looking for something fun to do on Table. North ridge looked good. Then I found out there's a trail. Boo! Oh well, with enough snow it might feel adventurous, so off I went.
There was more snow than I expected, more than last weekend at Greenleaf. It's been a bit warm, but I recall it was chilly around Wednesday, so that's probably when it picked up a few inches.
After a demoralizing long steep rainy posthole trudge up a viewless powerline road, I arrived at the saddle on the north ridge of Table Mountain. Sign said 1.4 miles on the trail to Table. Took two hours of postholing and bushwhacking in miserable weather to cover that distance.
Just a little ways up the trail, I grew weary of the sloppy wet snowy blowdown. I turned around and backtracked down the trail a bit until I found a good spot to access the ridgecrest, hoping it would be less brushy. It was totally open, and a bit wind scoured for less snow depth.
As I ascended, the clearings yielded to brush, but never as thick as it was down on the trail. Hit a high point and dropped to a saddle where I found the trail. It started to get a little more interesting: steep, cliffy, less brush.
I'd been worried that my ridge might just fade into the plateau, but it didn't. When I topped out, I stayed right/west for better scenery (less trees). By the time I reached the top of the SW ridge, the clouds were opening up a bit, and I could actually see into the gorge. Not the classic Table Mountain views, but I liked the atmosphere, very moody.
But within a few minutes I was back in pea soup again, and the rain returned. I headed back, but before dropping off the north ridge I decided to poke around the plateau a bit. Occasionally saw signs of the loop trail, but couldn't follow it. Happened to stumble into the table, which was a high point of the day. Hadn't seen it yet, and it was on my to-do list for this hike. I had pretty much abandoned hope of finding it, due to weather and snow, and the fact that I didn't even know where to look. Took a bit of a break here, but soon realized I was possibly in danger of hypothermia. Not terribly cold, but it was windy and I was wet. So I hustled on back, fast enough to generate some heat.
At the saddle where I had encountered the trail on my ascent, I eschewed my route up and over the hump, and decided to try the trail instead. Very hard to follow, but I persisted, until I gave up and veered left/west/uphill, knowing I'd eventually hit the ridgecrest and my footprints.
Retraced my steps down the ridge, yadda yadda, back to the truck, wet and miserable, but glad I did it.
There was more snow than I expected, more than last weekend at Greenleaf. It's been a bit warm, but I recall it was chilly around Wednesday, so that's probably when it picked up a few inches.
After a demoralizing long steep rainy posthole trudge up a viewless powerline road, I arrived at the saddle on the north ridge of Table Mountain. Sign said 1.4 miles on the trail to Table. Took two hours of postholing and bushwhacking in miserable weather to cover that distance.
Just a little ways up the trail, I grew weary of the sloppy wet snowy blowdown. I turned around and backtracked down the trail a bit until I found a good spot to access the ridgecrest, hoping it would be less brushy. It was totally open, and a bit wind scoured for less snow depth.
As I ascended, the clearings yielded to brush, but never as thick as it was down on the trail. Hit a high point and dropped to a saddle where I found the trail. It started to get a little more interesting: steep, cliffy, less brush.
I'd been worried that my ridge might just fade into the plateau, but it didn't. When I topped out, I stayed right/west for better scenery (less trees). By the time I reached the top of the SW ridge, the clouds were opening up a bit, and I could actually see into the gorge. Not the classic Table Mountain views, but I liked the atmosphere, very moody.
But within a few minutes I was back in pea soup again, and the rain returned. I headed back, but before dropping off the north ridge I decided to poke around the plateau a bit. Occasionally saw signs of the loop trail, but couldn't follow it. Happened to stumble into the table, which was a high point of the day. Hadn't seen it yet, and it was on my to-do list for this hike. I had pretty much abandoned hope of finding it, due to weather and snow, and the fact that I didn't even know where to look. Took a bit of a break here, but soon realized I was possibly in danger of hypothermia. Not terribly cold, but it was windy and I was wet. So I hustled on back, fast enough to generate some heat.
At the saddle where I had encountered the trail on my ascent, I eschewed my route up and over the hump, and decided to try the trail instead. Very hard to follow, but I persisted, until I gave up and veered left/west/uphill, knowing I'd eventually hit the ridgecrest and my footprints.
Retraced my steps down the ridge, yadda yadda, back to the truck, wet and miserable, but glad I did it.