after writing this morning--check out 'talk to yourself out loud'--all about being way too busy working, i went up mt cardigan for a winter walk. it was still snowy and frozen the whole way. that, and being in the middle of a thursday, i had the mountain all to myself!
driving up to the winter parking lot, i figured there wouldn't be many cars. i smiled as i pulled in, the lone vehicle. after squeezing around the gate and the frozen piles of last weeks snow, i went about 100 yards before i stopped to put on micro-spikes. slipping on the ice was one concern, but mostly i was hoping to avoid the frequent piles of dog shit, not so well placed in and along the path. that did not make me smile!
once i got up to the summer lot, the frequency fell to every once in a while, but annoyingly, still right on the trail. it was also still very icy where the volume of hikers was high. the two pictures below are not too far along, looking ahead on the left, and behind on the right.
when i got to the south ridge cut off, the ice continued up west ridge, but looked snowy on the less traveled trail. i took two more pictures, again looking ahead and then behind, to show the difference.
i was thinking that heavy travel compacted the snow and when we had those warm days over the weekend, it helped make the usual trail nice and icy. that's not to say there wasn't ice in the usual spots on south ridge. i remember posting images of skip and i--this year and last--posing at the big flow at the bottom of where it gets really steep.
surprisingly, there was a lot of snow on the trail and not all that much ice on the flow. the snow stayed plentiful until i got atop the ridge and it came and went with the trees. it got thick again when i rounded the warden's cabin and stayed until i got up closer to the summit on the south facing rock.
coming at the summit from the south east, i realized something was weird, the wind was at my back. usually, like 9 times out of 10, the wind comes out of the northwest. this was exactly opposite. when i snuck around the tower to cut the wind i took a picture looking towards smarts mtn--off to the northwest.
it doesn't show too well, but it looked like the sun was trying to break through on the hills beyond the guy-line. no sun was headed my way so i packed the camera and headed down the west ridge trail.
no more than 20 yards downhill, i stopped and shook my head in disgust. i even got the camera out to take a picture of the spray painted "kind is cool" message on a large~ish boulder.
the message is a few years old and fairly worn down--people have been wire brushing it periodically. sam evans-brown did a great episode, "leave no stone", on his wonderful show outside in, that includes a fresh picture. i don't always see the message, no matter, kindness may be cool, spray painting rocks in the mountains is f*cked up!
i was sad for a ways after that until i had to refocus when the mostly bare rock got really icy. i had to stop and put the micro-spikes back on. that helped in all but the sketchiest of spots with really hard ice.
i made it down safe and until i got back to the dog shit i was smiling--again. most anybody would agree that even with graffiti and pet poo, it's always a joy to 'go outside and play!'
ps--skip, there is plenty of base, top to bottom, if we get another good snow. after all, it is still march!
driving up to the winter parking lot, i figured there wouldn't be many cars. i smiled as i pulled in, the lone vehicle. after squeezing around the gate and the frozen piles of last weeks snow, i went about 100 yards before i stopped to put on micro-spikes. slipping on the ice was one concern, but mostly i was hoping to avoid the frequent piles of dog shit, not so well placed in and along the path. that did not make me smile!
once i got up to the summer lot, the frequency fell to every once in a while, but annoyingly, still right on the trail. it was also still very icy where the volume of hikers was high. the two pictures below are not too far along, looking ahead on the left, and behind on the right.
when i got to the south ridge cut off, the ice continued up west ridge, but looked snowy on the less traveled trail. i took two more pictures, again looking ahead and then behind, to show the difference.
i was thinking that heavy travel compacted the snow and when we had those warm days over the weekend, it helped make the usual trail nice and icy. that's not to say there wasn't ice in the usual spots on south ridge. i remember posting images of skip and i--this year and last--posing at the big flow at the bottom of where it gets really steep.
surprisingly, there was a lot of snow on the trail and not all that much ice on the flow. the snow stayed plentiful until i got atop the ridge and it came and went with the trees. it got thick again when i rounded the warden's cabin and stayed until i got up closer to the summit on the south facing rock.
coming at the summit from the south east, i realized something was weird, the wind was at my back. usually, like 9 times out of 10, the wind comes out of the northwest. this was exactly opposite. when i snuck around the tower to cut the wind i took a picture looking towards smarts mtn--off to the northwest.
it doesn't show too well, but it looked like the sun was trying to break through on the hills beyond the guy-line. no sun was headed my way so i packed the camera and headed down the west ridge trail.
no more than 20 yards downhill, i stopped and shook my head in disgust. i even got the camera out to take a picture of the spray painted "kind is cool" message on a large~ish boulder.
the message is a few years old and fairly worn down--people have been wire brushing it periodically. sam evans-brown did a great episode, "leave no stone", on his wonderful show outside in, that includes a fresh picture. i don't always see the message, no matter, kindness may be cool, spray painting rocks in the mountains is f*cked up!
i was sad for a ways after that until i had to refocus when the mostly bare rock got really icy. i had to stop and put the micro-spikes back on. that helped in all but the sketchiest of spots with really hard ice.
i made it down safe and until i got back to the dog shit i was smiling--again. most anybody would agree that even with graffiti and pet poo, it's always a joy to 'go outside and play!'
ps--skip, there is plenty of base, top to bottom, if we get another good snow. after all, it is still march!
No comments:
Post a Comment