Fall is an interesting season for adventuring in the PNW. We can have brilliant blue skies and cold temperatures perfect for visiting larches. Or we can get epic snow storms that give us hope for a white Christmas that never comes. Most often, we get some snow up high and rain down low. (Sound familiar? Maybe like this?)
Remember, though, just because we most often get mixed/lousy weather it's not always. Some days are perfect. Like this day.
We started early, finding just a single other person at the trailhead. We started first. He passed us. We passed him. It was his first time in the area so we hiked together to help him get where he was headed.
Along the way, Tink broke trail, we traversed across snow-covered meadows, and descended steep slopes to the lakes down in the basin. The lakes were partially covered in ice, but we didn't tempt fate by stepping off land. Our hiking companion continued on and we turned back.
Instead of following the route we used coming in, we took advantage of the snow cover and went off-trail straight up a gully. As expected, it was steeper and harder than it looked, but never too steep or hard. Near the top of the gully, Henry pulled away from me and got to the ridge top first.
DAD! The sun is great up here! He was talking about the warmth, but since I was still in the shade he and Tinkham were lit up like angels. Good thing I shoot with digital or it would have cost me a fortune to get it all developed. The only downside was it was a wee bit windy.
The ridge was our high point so just about everything else was downhill including a great early season glissade back to the trail we broke on the way in.
This trip was one of the prime reasons I go out so regularly. Sometimes you get lucky and the weather cooperates. It's not all the time, because that would diminish the magic, but when it does, it's amazing.
