Beginner winter hike suggestions.

Nothing wrong with the views from Pierce on a beautiful winters day. Much better than Cannon IMO.




But in an average snow fall year, not sure you'd call the summit cover.

My several winter trips on Pierce never had as much snow as Joe's shot. Mostly rocky and icy with some drifts here and there. I'd say it's covered almost to the top. so you get a whiff or being above treeline, even if stop at the sign at the junction and skip the last 1/10th of a mile to the top. (Much like Garfield but the distance, especially with the road walk keeps it off a beginner list, although when looking for longer trips with a glimpse of exposed summits it makes that list)

All that snow on Pierce reminds me of my second South Carter winter trip when there was so much snow that when standing on the top, you actually had a good view if taller than 5'6".

Mike P. said:

My several winter trips on Pierce never had as much snow as Joe's shot.

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I've actually found that to be the case in mid March (when that photo was taken) more often than not. Here's Tom mid March, different year.



South Hancock was the same on a different year again.

Mike P. said:

My several winter trips on Pierce never had as much snow as Joe's shot. Mostly rocky and icy with some drifts here and there.

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Pierce's peak sticks up into the Presidential winds so the loose snow is often blown away. Helps to fill in the Dry River valley...

Doug

sardog1 said:

This is EXACTLY the reason to do Pierce for this sort of thing. If the weather's nice, you have excellent views on top. If the weather's hazardous, you're protected right until the end, where newbies can stick their noses out and learn an extremely important lesson without said noses (or anything else) freezing and falling off before they scamper back into the trees.

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I agree entirely, I always warn new hikers about gearing up in the trees just before they break out into the wind and inevitably they end up stopping twice to put on more gear. It transitions from easy winter to full out winter in a very short distance.

Also love Pierce- quick note on Crawford, the bridge log at the very start has been an issue, can be tricky when icy- lost one hike when I attempted to cross on thin ice, going knee deep, back to the car and home Most times it is fine and a spectacular view on clear days. Not a peak but Arathusta Falls can be a fun walk, especially watching some ice climbers do their thing.

This was late February a couple of years ago.