It's another year of life that has passed and another one to live. In a spur of a moment, a task was offered. Climb a mountain in winter, one that is known to kill and possesses record high winds. The weather worked out nicely in my favor and I learned the tricks of hiking in winter.
The higher you go, the colder it gets, the stronger the wind becomes. The art of winter hiking is layers. I clearly stood out as an odd ball since I was not sporting the usual bright colors of expensive hiking gear. I made do just fine with what I had.
The beauty of a winter in real mountains is a sight to see.
Wind chill is no joke. Any exposed skin quickly feels the bite of blustering snow.
I love gloomy weather. Really. I do.
Visibility began to drop as the elevation increased. Recent foot prints in the snow were quickly erased. I could now see how people get stranded and sometimes meet their end.
Reached the peak in about 3 hours. Surprisingly about the same amount of time it took in the summer. The peak itself is really nothing exciting, especially with zero visibility. I mean really, where is the thrill when there is a parking lot and you can just drive to the top? Takes away some of attraction but fortunately there is still some left, it is a mountain afterall.
Wind is fun.
Heading back down. In the summer the cairns aren't of much use but now they were quite handy as the path down was not clear. The way down was also super fun with the snow as one could just run and hop and sometimes even slide on your ass. Certain sections would take mere seconds to pass when sliding versus pounding the ground one step at a time.
Complete. An exhausting effort. As always, eager for the next.
