Tom Rankin
Well-known member
Attention Post Holers, (you know who you are, and I know some of you! 
), you can hike the next day or 2 in the Cats w/o the snowshoes you obviously did not bring the last few days!
We dodged many postholes made the last few days while climbing up to Indian Head and Twin from Prediger Road. (The lot is nicely plowed out).
The cast was Alan, Bookah, Dick, and Joanne, minus Laurie who had to work.
We met at 9, with a little lake effect snow drifting down on us, and temps around 20. It was mostly sunny with just a hint of a breeze.
The trails are bullet hard. Most of the water and snow have frozen into ice and super hard supportive snow. You would still need snow shoes if you were up high and off trail, but otherwise there is not much white stuff to be found, especially on the South facing slopes. I wore micro-spikes all day, while the rest donned crampons for a part of the ascent of IH, and most of the drop back down to the IH/TW col. The trail varies from wet, to bare, to snow covered, to rivers of ice, etc.
Arriving at 11, we stopped only briefly at the summit of IH. When Dick and Joanne announced that they were donning crampons, I told them I was going to bolt over to Twin. So I said farewell, not really expecting to see them again, but promising to call Alan when I got out. Down and up, and down and up, and down and up and down, down, down, I was over to Twin (yes the North summit!), and caught up to the troop a few minutes before they arrived back at the Blue Trail / DP junction. The views were great, and I did stop and smell the roses for a few minutes at each summit. I had gotten off the path, but I knew where I was going, when suddenly I saw a blue jacket. I knew I would hit the trail eventually, as I was contouring away from the stream that flows down from the col. Actually, pleasant to be off the bullet hard trail!
We got back around 2, and said our good byes. Another great day in the mountains!
Pics:
http://viewsandbrews.com/temp/t1.jpg
http://viewsandbrews.com/temp/t2.jpg
http://viewsandbrews.com/temp/t3.jpg
), you can hike the next day or 2 in the Cats w/o the snowshoes you obviously did not bring the last few days! We dodged many postholes made the last few days while climbing up to Indian Head and Twin from Prediger Road. (The lot is nicely plowed out).
The cast was Alan, Bookah, Dick, and Joanne, minus Laurie who had to work.
We met at 9, with a little lake effect snow drifting down on us, and temps around 20. It was mostly sunny with just a hint of a breeze.
The trails are bullet hard. Most of the water and snow have frozen into ice and super hard supportive snow. You would still need snow shoes if you were up high and off trail, but otherwise there is not much white stuff to be found, especially on the South facing slopes. I wore micro-spikes all day, while the rest donned crampons for a part of the ascent of IH, and most of the drop back down to the IH/TW col. The trail varies from wet, to bare, to snow covered, to rivers of ice, etc.
Arriving at 11, we stopped only briefly at the summit of IH. When Dick and Joanne announced that they were donning crampons, I told them I was going to bolt over to Twin. So I said farewell, not really expecting to see them again, but promising to call Alan when I got out. Down and up, and down and up, and down and up and down, down, down, I was over to Twin (yes the North summit!), and caught up to the troop a few minutes before they arrived back at the Blue Trail / DP junction. The views were great, and I did stop and smell the roses for a few minutes at each summit. I had gotten off the path, but I knew where I was going, when suddenly I saw a blue jacket. I knew I would hit the trail eventually, as I was contouring away from the stream that flows down from the col. Actually, pleasant to be off the bullet hard trail!
We got back around 2, and said our good byes. Another great day in the mountains!
Pics:
http://viewsandbrews.com/temp/t1.jpg
http://viewsandbrews.com/temp/t2.jpg
http://viewsandbrews.com/temp/t3.jpg
