Snowy Hike Story

For the past few weeks I've been aching to hike up to a fire tower near by. The path isn't too bad, but I've had some issues with my knee preventing me from any steep hikes. So today I drove the 45 minutes to the trail head.

Here there's barely a dusting of snow. The more I traveled north though, the more accumulation there was. When I finally turned onto the dirt road taking me the 7 miles down to the trailhead I felt like I was driving at home, 20 mph, and in the middle of the road. There was probably about 6 inches on the road, and being dirt it was just compacted snow.

It was a bit nerve-wracking, looking at my gas gauge reading a quarter tank, knowing I was in the middle of nowhere. I figured I may not be able to hike the path, but I at least wanted to try.

Finally crunching through the snow into the parking lot at the trail I felt excited. Getting out of the car the snow was halfway up my shins! Thankfully I put my long underwear on under my jeans, and brought a hat and gloves, so I was all prepared to go. I strapped my camera case over my back, locked up the car, and hit the trail.

To find the trail I just followed the tracks of the hikers in front of me. Actually, without those it would've taken me a good half-hour just to find it! About 100 yards into the path there was a small registration booth, pretty typical for trails around here. In a pull-down section there's a registration book you sign with your name, address, and phone number, so the police know if anyone is still on the trail.

After signing in I made my way up the path. It's pretty level at the beginning, but that didn't matter. Usually when hiking the paths are rough, with roots and rocks. Imagine that all covered in a foot of powdery snow. I tried following the footsteps of the people who had passed through earlier, but my footing slipped quite a few times making the walk slow and scary. It's like walking blindfolded.

After passing by a picnic bench and fire pit, the trail seemed to peter off. I made my way up the only clear area. The path became increasingly difficult as the incline steepened. At only a half mile into the path I realized it was far too dangerous to be hiking in the snow. I couldn't quite make out the path, and I was having a very difficult time keeping my footing under the slippery conditions.

On my way back down I took many of the pictures below. Now I'm home safe, and about to go take a hot shower! I'm still chilled through!