Saturday January 3 started out pretty nice. Calm air, albeit cold, kept the 30 degree tempurature comfortable for hiking. The snow from the past 3 weeks had built up to a nice flattened pathway up the Rattlesnake Ledge trail and transformed it into something far more enjoyable and beautiful than I’m used to on that trail. Almost a completely different trail.
I dropped Wendy at work at 12pm then grabbed a veggie sandwich at Subway and headed to the trailhead. The parking lot was still fairly full of snow and ice and I almost got stuck trying to park. But the good o’le Honda has never let me down. I started hiking at 12:30 and it took me approx 1 hr to the top. More people coming down than going up at that hour, and a surprising number of older asians. I had on my Yaxtrax for “feet control” on the snow and ice, and because of that didn’t need trekking poles(I forgot them anyway). Many others had the same, similar, or snowshoes. I thought the trail was much too compacted for snowshoes but I guess people need to try’em out or utilize them at some point during their winter.
I rested in the calm cool air for about 15 minutes, sitting in my favorite spot on my jacket to keep my butt dry from the snow. A few others up there with me, some with dogs. But it was quiet and peaceful.
We’ve had a surprising amount of snow the past 3 weeks. I know the amounts vary from area to area in this region, but at our house we’ve had a combined total of about 15 inches now. About half of that has either melted or compacted. Its been unusually cold here but warm air and rain are forecast for this week so most could be gone in another week.