This was planned as a Doggie-Augie trek but I wussed out near the junction of the Augspurger part of the route on the NW ridge. No tracks, snow too deep and relentless wind. In any event, it was a most picturesque hike and a great workout.
Arriving at the TH, I was happy to see it was plowed. Also, the hwy dept. plows have removed those annoying lines made of old fire hoses so maybe now we can use the parking area more efficiently. (Yeah, like that’s going to happen.)
The start of the trail is fine for just boots but I put my spikes on about a quarter mile up for a little more traction. The bootpath from other hikers is narrow and well packed down so even boots without traction devices would be fine most of the way. I didn’t put on my snowshoes until the upper junction and even then, they weren’t really needed until I headed for the western ridge. I was tired of carrying them though.
The track up the center line has turned into a steep glissading chute:
There was minimal wind until I broke out onto the meadows and then it was only about 10 to 20 MPH. The temperature was 18 degrees on top so it was definitely brisk!
I saw only two people the whole day, one coming down from the top just as I neared it and one lone woman, climbing in just boots. She seemed to be doing just fine - twenty-somethings are tough!
From the top, I followed snowshoe tracks towards the west side trail and snowshoes were absolutely needed there. The ridge was beautiful with snow and ice plastered trees and a lot of rime in places.
No one had gone past the trail junction that heads over to Augspurger so I backtracked up the ridge a little ways and followed a good set of tracks directly down to the trail heading back. Very steep, but good enough.
The map:
Hike number 32, 6.5 miles, 3,164 EG, 5 hours, 39 minutes.
ps: Thanks go to my totally badass friend Mandrake, who I've now found out made those tracks from the top!
