I've been saying that I didn't want to do anything stupid or crowded, so the combination of a few days of sunshine and a Friday morning available led me up to visit Sunset Peak. Baldy road has some snow showing just before the Village, and Glendora Mountain Road is closed there. I parked on the street and made the long paved walk to the trailhead, all the while contemplating which route I would take. Looking at the lower section, I chose the ridge route because it looked like dirt and also gets some sunshine, meaning I could just wear my boots. On the second big uphill section, things started to get slick as I was alternately postholing and then slipping on the frozen sections. Finding a convenient rock to sit on, I donned the crampons, which actually makes things easier because I don't have to really plan each step. I did notice the weight right away! At the hairpin turn a couple groups were lounging in the sunshine and taking advantage of the many rocks for sitting. I kept going up the ridge, and one of the people there followed along. He had never been to the summit, but the steep slippery trail got to him after a few minutes so I pressed on alone. It was slow going through the mixed surfaces, and I was especially careful on the rock outcrops. A bad posthole there would mean at least a sprain. I finally reached the road again and sauntered up to the summit where I spent a long time reveling in the quiet solitude and finally enjoying that hot cocoa that I missed on the last couple hikes.
Going down I decided to use the road, since descending the ridge is never fun and would be way more dangerous in these conditions. Well the road was not fun, it was soft snow and at times I was sinking down 10 inches. That made for slow travel, the three-mile journey back to the trailhead took nearly two hours. Some of that was due to downed trees, of which I counted 13 along the way. One of these days I'll have to go up and do some maintenance. I took off the crampons for the last mile, as I was spending as much time on dirt as on the snow. Besides that group on the way up, I saw three people near the bottom of the trail.
Just another great day in the local hills. AllTrails calculated it at 7 miles which is what I figured.
Ridge route outlined in white.
Around here I put on the crampons.
Summit in sight.
Selfie time.
Snack break. Warm enough that I didn't need the jacket or gloves.
Road walking down. Even the snowshoe tracks were a few inches deep, everything here was very soft.
No. Fun. At. All.
Road junction. I only saw one set of tracks coming up from the other route.
One of many downed trees. I'm surprised there were so many, I have never seen it like this.
AllTrails track.
"Argue for your limitations and sure enough they're yours".
Donald Shimoda
And coffee apparatus....those Fremen were on to something.
