The trail and road were largely free of snow until the crest of the ridge above the lake, but by the time I reached the PCT, the snow cover was complete (about 6” and firm), and clouds and mist were swirling through the forest,
Just past the Heartbreak Ridge Trail junction, the sun started trying to break through again,
and once I got up onto the lower rocky part of the West Ridge, the skies were mostly clear and I had a good view of Hamilton Mountain being enveloped in clouds,
and of an almost cloud-free Hardy Ridge – if it had only been like this last Sunday!
Unfortunately, there were clouds moving above me and these were busy engulfing the top of Table.
The promised east wind had also kicked in and, while it was sunny, it wasn’t particularly warm on the ridge, what with the cool air temperature and wind chill. The snow on the ridge varied between firm enough to walk on, breakable crust, and serious posthole. I was following someone’s steps but they disappeared into the forest at the point where the ridge trail gets close to the edge of the ridge - I kept heading directly up the ridge and never saw any other tracks again. By the time I got to the top, my tracks were the only ones visible – but then not much of anything else was visible in the swirling clouds and mist.
I had lunch on top, hoping to wait out a break in the clouds, but no luck. Of course, perversely, once I started down, the clouds parted(!). So I did get a nice view of Hood between bouts of clouds.
After that, it was down the ridge, into the clouds, and back down the trail.
And, as often happens to me, the clouds started to dissipate from Table as I passed Carpenters heading for the car.
It would have been just a little better if there had been views from the top, but it was still a fun snow climb, with the wind and constantly moving clouds adding a little something extra to the day.
