G & T 24

G & T 24


I might as well start calling this the wind and snow challenge. This week did not look good as we had a nice storm on Monday-Tuesday and another coming in Wednesday night through the weekend. My only hope seemed to be an early run on Wednesday and hope for the best. I got to Bakerville around 6:30 when it was still a bit dark, but the winds were already howling. I got going as soon as possible, hoping that as the sun rose things would improve. There was about 3-6 inches of new snow on the road, which was totally untracked. I guess I'd have the mountain to myself again. Things started to get nasty as I ascended through the willows after the summer trailhead, with blowing snow, wind gusts, and some cold temps. I really had to dig deep to convince myself to keep going. Sometimes it gets a bit better when you get past the turnoff to the Kelso ridge as the route hugs a ridge for a bit. I don't think I looked up for this entire section, just kept my head down to protect my face from the biting wind and snow. On the upper face the wind calmed a bit, but there were still ferocious gusts that would almost knock me flat. Finally, a quick tag of Grays, a photo, and.... boom, a huge gust came, knocking me over resulting in a smashed camera. Damn, and I had just gotten it a couple months ago. I think the saddle between Grays and Torreys is one of the worst places in the world - no shelter and just unrelenting wind. A slog up Torreys and then it was time to get out of there. Ugh.

 Don't be fooled by this photo, it looks nice, but it was not...