Cook Hill on a winter day
Posted: January 16th, 2019, 4:48 pm
Somehow I’d managed to miss out on hiking Cook Hill all these years so I decided to correct that error yesterday.
Getting my usual leisurely start, I headed up the trail at 12:40 with a strong wind at my back. The 37 degree temperature felt like the mid 20’s with the wind so I was very glad to enter the forest after only a short distance.
Most of this hike is on an ancient logging roadbed that’s perhaps 80 years old or more and well covered in conifer needles and oak, maple and alder leaves. This gives it the feeling of a very wide trail rather than an old road. Only the final mile of the loop as described in the field guide is an actual trail and it’s a good one that’s well maintained. According the field guide, it’s yet another Russ Jolley-built trail.
I hit continuous snow cover about half way up so donned my spikes for better footing though the snow never got more than 6 inches deep, even on the summit ridge. The rime ice was another story though:
Once past the summit, I headed down to the ridge and trudged the 6/10 mile through crusty snow and rime to the powerlines and towards the communications towers:
The pictures don't do justice to how thick the ice was. Here's a pic with my GPS for scale:
The ice was incredibly thick on the towers. At least a foot at the base and way more higher up:
The wind was relentless on the ridge and at 27 degrees the wind chill was now in the mid-teens or worse. After checking out the powerline pylons and getting really blasted by the wind, I was glad the rest of the hike was in the lee of the ridge.
I was dressed for these conditions but was glad to be back in the car, heater on high for the drive home.
The map:
Getting my usual leisurely start, I headed up the trail at 12:40 with a strong wind at my back. The 37 degree temperature felt like the mid 20’s with the wind so I was very glad to enter the forest after only a short distance.
Most of this hike is on an ancient logging roadbed that’s perhaps 80 years old or more and well covered in conifer needles and oak, maple and alder leaves. This gives it the feeling of a very wide trail rather than an old road. Only the final mile of the loop as described in the field guide is an actual trail and it’s a good one that’s well maintained. According the field guide, it’s yet another Russ Jolley-built trail.
I hit continuous snow cover about half way up so donned my spikes for better footing though the snow never got more than 6 inches deep, even on the summit ridge. The rime ice was another story though:
Once past the summit, I headed down to the ridge and trudged the 6/10 mile through crusty snow and rime to the powerlines and towards the communications towers:
The pictures don't do justice to how thick the ice was. Here's a pic with my GPS for scale:
The ice was incredibly thick on the towers. At least a foot at the base and way more higher up:
The wind was relentless on the ridge and at 27 degrees the wind chill was now in the mid-teens or worse. After checking out the powerline pylons and getting really blasted by the wind, I was glad the rest of the hike was in the lee of the ridge.
I was dressed for these conditions but was glad to be back in the car, heater on high for the drive home.
The map:
