EISPIRATEN

The plan was to hike up the Ski Hut trail, but the road was closed and cars were backed up all the way to the village.
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.

Good times, great views!

By any chance did you run into two Asian guys (looked mid-20's) who either had a rope and harnesses, or were roped up?

Cheers

Great pictures! That would be a tough trail to descend in the dark!

Taco wrote: ↑Good times, great views!

By any chance did you run into two Asian guys (looked mid-20's) who either had a rope and harnesses, or were roped up?

Cheers

Hey Taco,
I passed two guys around 7000 ft that fit that description. They weren't roped up, but they were wearing harnesses and had axes and helmets. One of them was really struggling and I don't think they made it up very far.

Might've brought too much gear, methinks. I think I saw them recently. Thanks for the info!

:X

Nice shoot of the ridge -- good call to turn around!