After a decent walk back up the highway, we started on the Wilson Road to reach the Disappointment Road, but a dude with a shovel shouted, "No hiking!" That's when I noticed the paper sign attached to the gate, declaring the road off-limits, even to hikers. Whatever. I didn't want to disrespect the guy, because I'm pretty sure that in the summertime he sells me cold drinks at the Native American visitor center. Why is he gatekeeping for the county, I don't know. Maybe he didn't want us to get in trouble, and I should have thanked him for the warning.
In any case, we abandoned that scene and strolled over to the Strawberry Peak Trail. As it was a sunny, above-freezing morning, I figured there would be slush on the south-facing Strawberry Trail, more so than on the north-facing Disappointment Road. But beggars can't be choosers, so we headed up anyway, to be with nature.
At first little waterfalls dropped across the trail as snow melted into the West Fork. We passed some downed trees and pushed through a couple feet of snow in some sections, less in others. The post holing didn't become a headache until around noon.
As we crossed the firebreak, a group was practicing self-arrest on Point 5166. Earlier they had been practicing setting up tents in the snow at Red Box.
We met several other people on the trail. None had reached the summit of Strawberry. We stopped midway due to the annoying slush and scrambled up the slope to eat lunch in a dry spot with no snow on the ground. One man, whom we knew from the Rubio trail crew, told us he turned around after sinking to his waist on the ridge path.
After lunch we decided to check out Point 5166, which is the bump between Red Box and Lawlor. From the Strawberry Peak Trail you follow the firebreak southward, to a summit with some old telephone poles on top.
From the top there are nice views of the West Fork in one direction and the Arroyo Seco in the other.
When we got back down to Red Box, the gatekeeper was still leaning on his shovel, watching out for bad boys and girls. Hardcore.
