Bernerbabe
Member
My first solo hike for a 4,000-footer! (Well, except for my 2YO Berner pup). Only my second 4K since knee surgery two months ago... starting small and working my way up gradually. Figured four hours and it took exactly that, going slow because of ice.
Very icy from stairs before stream crossing all the way up. Need traction of some sort. Wore spikes from this point on; I lent my crampons to someone at the summit for the descent--they got to use them before I had even tried them! Hillsound Pros; they liked the fact that they were easily adjustable, but the guy did say they loosened up a couple of times. He also gave me a tip to always wear gaiters with them, as they can tear your pants. I don't usually use gaiters unless the snow is real deep, so that's good to know. Someone had been up there with an axe recently to clear a couple of blowdowns.
--Roberta
Very icy from stairs before stream crossing all the way up. Need traction of some sort. Wore spikes from this point on; I lent my crampons to someone at the summit for the descent--they got to use them before I had even tried them! Hillsound Pros; they liked the fact that they were easily adjustable, but the guy did say they loosened up a couple of times. He also gave me a tip to always wear gaiters with them, as they can tear your pants. I don't usually use gaiters unless the snow is real deep, so that's good to know. Someone had been up there with an axe recently to clear a couple of blowdowns.
--Roberta
