After
a winter with no lowland snow and very little snow anywhere the past
few weeks, we had a dump on Saturday. Gary and I planned to go skiing
but were afraid of the pass closing. We decided to take the day off.
Sunday morning it was looking better and I called to suggest a snowy
hike closer to town. Gary was in so we met at my house at the unusually
late time of 8:55 am. We headed east with the temperature a little
above freezing. We arrived at High Point at 9:30 am. The side of the
road was snowy where I parked. We were on our way at 9:36 am. The walk
down the paved road to the High Point Trail was the slickest part of
the trip. On the hike down we passed a lone wooden chair. It was
covered with snow. I have no idea why it was there. Once on snowy trail
the traction improved. We have been doing cold sunny hikes for weeks
and have seen very little snowy terrain this fall and winter. It was
nice to see the heavily laden trees. It snowed on part of the drive and
was snowing hard enough that we started with umbrellas up. They proved
useful where we pushed through brush hanging over the trail.
We headed up the High Point Trail at a bit slower than normal pace. For the first time we had heavier boots, poles, and microspikes. The snow was not very slick but it was still slower going. I think we saw two hikers coming down while we ascended. It as pretty quiet. We saw a couple footprints ahead of us since the latest snow. We took a short break at Ruth's Cove. It looked good with a fresh coating of snow. The snow was very shin in the forest at the bottom but became deeper as we went up. Maximum snow near the top was about six inches. We reached some open spots after Fred's Straightway where the snow dumped on us pretty good. Ah, the fun of hiking in the snow. It sure beats hiking in the rain.
The bridge above the old railroad grade had about five inches of fresh snow on it. As we neared Tom's Crossing we began to hear the wind. It was coming out of the south. That is one reason we chose Tiger 2 as the mountain would block the wind until we were near the summit. We popped out of the forest into the recent clearcut to find minimal visibility. The tower above was in a gray cloud. Everything was in a gray cloud. Even nearby Tiger 3 and 1 were never seen on the trip. The wind was now pretty strong. Ice crystals blew right at our faces. The umbrellas helped though the wind was strong enough to bend them. We ground out the last hundred feet of elevation gain. We did see hikers on top. A quick stop at the actual summit and that was enough. We went to the top of the road next to the tower complex fence where the building inside blocked much of the wind. We had a fast lunch. We arrived on top at 12:01 pm. We were on our way down at 12:07 we headed down.
First we had to go straight into the wind and ice crystals. Then we switched back and headed downwind. Rather than retrace our steps we chose to go down the road/trail towards Tiger 3. Then we took the TMT back to Tom's Crossing. This would boost our distance up to about 8 miles. When we reached the TMT, there were no footprints. Gary led the way as we followed the snow covered trail across the clearcut. Tiger 2 blocked much of the wind. We passed a runner heading up the road. At Tom's Crossing we passed him again as he turned onto the route we had just hiked. We passed more groups heading up. the nearly untouched snow in the morning was now pretty well packed down.
The descent was easy. The trail was smoother with snow than dirt. We never did need any traction devices. As we neared the High Point Trail our GPS check showed we would still be a little under 8 miles. We chose to take the Lingering Trail back. It had a lot fewer footprints on it. The brush seemed to be very heavily flocked with snow, even at this lower elevation. We made it back to the car at 2:58 pm. It snowed most of the way down but at the car we had some blue sky overhead.
I am glad we decided to get out after all. Though it snowed much of the way and was very cold in the wind, it was really nice to do a snowy hike once again. It was much easier than snowshoeing but we still had really nice snow covered terrain. I'm sure the trail up Tiger 3 was very crowded but our route up Tiger 2 provided a lot of solitude. All the people we passed were smiling to be out in the snow once again. Perhaps winter is about to get started.
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Trips - 2025
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We headed up the High Point Trail at a bit slower than normal pace. For the first time we had heavier boots, poles, and microspikes. The snow was not very slick but it was still slower going. I think we saw two hikers coming down while we ascended. It as pretty quiet. We saw a couple footprints ahead of us since the latest snow. We took a short break at Ruth's Cove. It looked good with a fresh coating of snow. The snow was very shin in the forest at the bottom but became deeper as we went up. Maximum snow near the top was about six inches. We reached some open spots after Fred's Straightway where the snow dumped on us pretty good. Ah, the fun of hiking in the snow. It sure beats hiking in the rain.
The bridge above the old railroad grade had about five inches of fresh snow on it. As we neared Tom's Crossing we began to hear the wind. It was coming out of the south. That is one reason we chose Tiger 2 as the mountain would block the wind until we were near the summit. We popped out of the forest into the recent clearcut to find minimal visibility. The tower above was in a gray cloud. Everything was in a gray cloud. Even nearby Tiger 3 and 1 were never seen on the trip. The wind was now pretty strong. Ice crystals blew right at our faces. The umbrellas helped though the wind was strong enough to bend them. We ground out the last hundred feet of elevation gain. We did see hikers on top. A quick stop at the actual summit and that was enough. We went to the top of the road next to the tower complex fence where the building inside blocked much of the wind. We had a fast lunch. We arrived on top at 12:01 pm. We were on our way down at 12:07 we headed down.
First we had to go straight into the wind and ice crystals. Then we switched back and headed downwind. Rather than retrace our steps we chose to go down the road/trail towards Tiger 3. Then we took the TMT back to Tom's Crossing. This would boost our distance up to about 8 miles. When we reached the TMT, there were no footprints. Gary led the way as we followed the snow covered trail across the clearcut. Tiger 2 blocked much of the wind. We passed a runner heading up the road. At Tom's Crossing we passed him again as he turned onto the route we had just hiked. We passed more groups heading up. the nearly untouched snow in the morning was now pretty well packed down.
The descent was easy. The trail was smoother with snow than dirt. We never did need any traction devices. As we neared the High Point Trail our GPS check showed we would still be a little under 8 miles. We chose to take the Lingering Trail back. It had a lot fewer footprints on it. The brush seemed to be very heavily flocked with snow, even at this lower elevation. We made it back to the car at 2:58 pm. It snowed most of the way down but at the car we had some blue sky overhead.
I am glad we decided to get out after all. Though it snowed much of the way and was very cold in the wind, it was really nice to do a snowy hike once again. It was much easier than snowshoeing but we still had really nice snow covered terrain. I'm sure the trail up Tiger 3 was very crowded but our route up Tiger 2 provided a lot of solitude. All the people we passed were smiling to be out in the snow once again. Perhaps winter is about to get started.
 Snowing At The Start |
 A Trailside Chair |
 Flocked Forest |
 Gary At Ruth's Cove |
 Open Trail |
 A Little Deeper |
 Snowy Bridge |
 Few Footprints |
 Below Cloudy Summit |
 Cold & Windy |
 Frosted Fence |
 Frosted Tree |
 Heading Down |
 Speedy Runners |
 A Sign Of Snow? |
 Gary On Trail |
 Jim On Trail |
 Pretty Forest |
 Back To The Bridge |
 Devil's Club |
 Getting Brighter |
 Christmas Tree |
 Ruth's Cove Again |
 Switchback Ahead |
 Snowy Brush |
 Gary & The Dragon |
 Dragon's Back |
 Mossy Tree |
Trips - 2025
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