Tony and Krista met me (Sarah) and my dog, Angel, promptly before 7:00 am at the Kenosha Pass trailhead. We booted up and bundled up, and happily agreed snowshoes would not be needed before striking out up North Tein Cone Road.
We could have driven further up the road to park as there was not much snow, but we all agreed we welcomed the extra exercise. Within the first mile, we encountered large ice flows across the road which made for interesting walking! Several additional ice flows were encountered en route.
We continued climbing on the road, up through the switchbacks, until reaching the ridge line where the road descends. Here we left the roadbed and struck off through fresh, untracked snow. We periodically encountered a few human footprints here and there, but mostly encountered elk paths and even large bowls in the snow where the elk bed down at night.
Somehow we wondered onto the western ridge, which required hopping over large boulders and avoiding snowtraps. Eventually, we gained the smoother summit ridge and cruised to the top. We hung out near the summit structure for a while and enjoyed the views and lunch before heading back down the south ridge of the peak and regaining the road to descend to the trucks.
It was as beautiful bluebird day for this right-sized group to enjoy a winter 12er.
Sarah Simon - Jan 23, 2013 4:34 pm - Voted 8/10
About Sunday's climbMike,
My promised blurb...
Tony and Krista met me (Sarah) and my dog, Angel, promptly before 7:00 am at the Kenosha Pass trailhead. We booted up and bundled up, and happily agreed snowshoes would not be needed before striking out up North Tein Cone Road.
We could have driven further up the road to park as there was not much snow, but we all agreed we welcomed the extra exercise. Within the first mile, we encountered large ice flows across the road which made for interesting walking! Several additional ice flows were encountered en route.
We continued climbing on the road, up through the switchbacks, until reaching the ridge line where the road descends. Here we left the roadbed and struck off through fresh, untracked snow. We periodically encountered a few human footprints here and there, but mostly encountered elk paths and even large bowls in the snow where the elk bed down at night.
Somehow we wondered onto the western ridge, which required hopping over large boulders and avoiding snowtraps. Eventually, we gained the smoother summit ridge and cruised to the top. We hung out near the summit structure for a while and enjoyed the views and lunch before heading back down the south ridge of the peak and regaining the road to descend to the trucks.
It was as beautiful bluebird day for this right-sized group to enjoy a winter 12er.