End of Winter Hike
D
This outing was suppose to be an "End of Winter Hike", seeing how spring is coming next Wednesday. Or for those who knew how I spent my previous weekend, this was my "Get back on the horse that just kicked you off" hike. I really didn't have a plan, but once I got to Ripplebrook it started spitting snow, so I turned left onto 4631 and headed up towards the 'Mile Post 3 Trail' or MP3 for short.
The road up was littered with boulders and drooping trees laiden with snow. The FS has been busy putting up wilderness boundary signs like this one a hundred feet up the trail.
The fresh snow painted the landscape a definite wintery scene that I always like to hike in if the snow isn't too much of a struggle. There was 3-6" of new snow laid upon hard crusty old snow, perfect conditions just for a pair on snowboots, I left my snowshoes in my rig.
No there isn't a tunnel on the trail. It is just a closeup photo of two trees near the trail that were notched out to allow packhorses to pass.
This is a trail! The vine maple and other smaller trees get pulled down into the trail corridor by the snow. There were a few of these areas that need some more brushing once the snows leave the high country. I flagged a couple of problematic sections that had me scratching my head.
The rockslide areas open up the views and also allow the snow to pile up. According to my walking stick/snow depth gauge sunk past 3' in these areas, but with the hard crust, I just kept on hiking without much hinderence.
It wasn't long before I topped out on the 704 trail to Mount Mitchill, my goal for the day.
What a way to end the winter! But it does look like it might hang around in the higher country for awhile for I hear there is more snow coming. So don't put away those snowboots yet, get out there and enjoy it while you can, before the buzz of mosquitoes arrive.
Don
The road up was littered with boulders and drooping trees laiden with snow. The FS has been busy putting up wilderness boundary signs like this one a hundred feet up the trail.
The fresh snow painted the landscape a definite wintery scene that I always like to hike in if the snow isn't too much of a struggle. There was 3-6" of new snow laid upon hard crusty old snow, perfect conditions just for a pair on snowboots, I left my snowshoes in my rig.
No there isn't a tunnel on the trail. It is just a closeup photo of two trees near the trail that were notched out to allow packhorses to pass.
This is a trail! The vine maple and other smaller trees get pulled down into the trail corridor by the snow. There were a few of these areas that need some more brushing once the snows leave the high country. I flagged a couple of problematic sections that had me scratching my head.
The rockslide areas open up the views and also allow the snow to pile up. According to my walking stick/snow depth gauge sunk past 3' in these areas, but with the hard crust, I just kept on hiking without much hinderence.
It wasn't long before I topped out on the 704 trail to Mount Mitchill, my goal for the day.
What a way to end the winter! But it does look like it might hang around in the higher country for awhile for I hear there is more snow coming. So don't put away those snowboots yet, get out there and enjoy it while you can, before the buzz of mosquitoes arrive.
DonK
Don,
It looks like it was quite beautiful up there with the fresh snow. Thanks for the report. Where's Murphy? He usually sneaks into a picture or two. Glad to hear you had a lot better day than the week before. 
Kirk
KirkR
I think I saw you driving home from this adventure.....Looks like it was a great day. I need to get back to the MP3 trail again. I haven't hiked it for several years.
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