On the drive out we noticed that the freezing levels had slipped again with a fresh dusting down to about 3000 ft. A few folks who wanted to get a jump on things tried to leave a little early, but all missed the signs noting "Anette Lake Trailhead closed - use Detour" and related arrows, more signs, and pink ribbon. The bridge on the standard trail is out, so the route starts around that little 'nature wander loop' where one can walk a half mile basking in the glory of huge Douglass firs mixed with the roar of Semi Trucks 50m away.
But I digress. Once on the correct trail we managed to lose about a month for every 1000 ft we gained. It was snowing steadily by the time we crossed the Iron Horse trail and by the time we neared the lake there were 2+ inches of fresh on the ground. And I had been telling Sherry "the trail to the lake will be mostly snow-free". Oops.
My biggest fear was that the snow would be soft and we would post-hole all the way to the ridge. I had insisted everyone bring ice axes anyway. As was, the temps were now well below freezing, the snow was rock hard, my toes are sore from kicking steps and I wish I had mandated crampons. The ice axes at least came in damn handy. By the time we hit the ridge, it was gettting dark, snowing, blowing 20mph or so, and my little thermometer was reading a shade over 20F. This is February, right? I was also using my remaining energy to kick myself for not packing the Tele-Gear. Would have been a FANTASTIC run. If anyone has the day off, go, go now, don't wait, grab the skis and hit Silver - we've already kicked the steps for you. Jason, bright boy, brought the snow board. Even without skis, the trip down was a fast FAST sliding descent, fantastic self-arrest practice and we bombed down the slope whooping like maniacs. This is infinitely better than picking one's way down that talus field. There was a small open spot in the ice on the lake, but no one was game for a swim, so out we went and hit the cars a little after 10 - fastest trip on Silver by a long shot. We didn't make the real summit, but all those wind-blown, darkening snow-covered ridges look alike anyway, right?
All images and content on these pages are Copyright © 2003 by Dan Scherer. Reproduction without expressed written permission prohibited.