I decided to go up Bear Canyon knowing that I may not top out since I got a late start. I passed up 8 hikers or so and at ~8200 ft. or so found myself at the front of the line. That's when the fun started. I had never been up this way and the trail was not visible. Fortunately, the last pair of hikers I passed gave me a general idea where the trail went up and I had my GPS. I was postholing much of the way sinking in to my knees and occasionally to my thighs. At ~9100 ft. and 1 mile from the summit I decided to turn around. I hit a patch of deep snow and realized that it would take me anywhere from 1-2 hours to reach the summit around 3-4 pm.. That would mean returning in the dark on a frozen trail. An unacceptable risk for a solo hiker and the last man to come down.
Conditions were absolutely gorgeous and I didn't have to use my crampons in the soft snow. Met some very nice people, namely Skip, Miguel and Jamil.
Here are a few pictures, the first one of the corniced ridge was taken by Skip.
I think I saw them recently. Thanks for the info!
