Elevation Gain: 1500 feet
Time: 10:00 am - 3:30 pm
Weather: Overcast, cool, breezy.
I went out today, that's right, I am blogging about this hike the day it happened. It has been awhile since I did that and for no real reason other than procrastination and busyness. It is a New Year, and with the new year comes renewed hope for the future. The future of all things seems so open and new. I have made 11 resolutions so far, and I am looking for 2 more to round the list out at 13. I have spoken about trying to blog the night I return from a hike as being one of my "hiking" resolutions. Either way, I am writing about a hike I did today.
Diane, my friend that goes to the desert with Creighton and me, texted earlier this week with the idea to hike on Sunday. She mentioned Paradise. I sent out an email invite and had two more takers. It has now happened three Januarys in a row. I have found myself snowshoeing on Mazama Ridge, and usually stopping by Reflection Lakes. This was the first time in those three Januarys when the visibility wasn't as great. Just look at the photos from Week 21 and Week 71.
Since visibility was limited up high, we took the low route to Reflection Lake. We skirted around the Barn Flats on the well worn snow. We took the route through the trees, following the signs and pole markers. It was a bit of a climb, but I had been doing a decent job managing layers. We hadn't seen anyone yet, and as we climbed we came across a cross country skier. We passed him and were soon at the lake, about an hour and a half after leaving the car. There were three people across the lake, we followed previous track over to the north lake shore and stamped out a landing pad to eat lunch, stare at the Tatoosh Mountains peaking through the clouds, and enjoy a hot beverage. Great company, good snacks, and a quiet serene scene. We took off for the car with a plan to go up on Mazama Ridge and come back down the Fourth Crossing Trail.
The climb up the ridge was a great. It was a bit of work too. Climbing, combined with some trail breaking has certainly made these legs of mine a tad sore from the chore. I wouldn't have it any other way. Diane was entirely enthused; she said she hadn't been able to get out and hike at all this Winter Break. We had so much fu, we missed the trail down to the road. While the distance we continued past the turn wasn't great, the elevation we gained unnecessarily was hard. I enjoyed it, but it was tough. As we climbed visibility was very low, the wind picked up, and the nervous feeling of a complete whiteout was looming.
Thankfully Diane felt off about the trail and said let's turn around. Conditions quickly improved. We found the trail heading down minutes later. We made quick work of all the down hill and were back on the road in a flash. Sooner than I wanted, we were done with the hike.
Orchid: Bombing downhill to the road.
Onion: The brief panic of not knowing where we were.
Picture:
Google Map
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