Heading down from Mount Bigelow on the dirt roads to the west – low hanging clouds around the top of the mountain and a hint of the setting sun thru the trees – the sun fades but damp dirt roads make for easy footing and navigation even by headlamp. Back on the pavement and headed back to the Bigelow Trailhead each breath floats briefly in front of me before falling away or disappearing into the occasional clouds…
The Bigelow Trailhead, and the highway, were crowded with people enjoying the snow – it was a sleds and snowballs day on the mountain!
In shorts and a t-shirt I had on fewer layers of clothing (and more sunscreen) than any of the people I left behind at the trailhead – I might have been going a little farther, but we were all doing the same thing – just playing in the snow…
The hillsides below Mount Bigelow had a fun amount of snow – but by the end of my short hike, where the Butterfly Trail was in the sun, the snow disappeared. 2.76 miles, 800′ of elevation gain/loss.
Dirt roads and paved mountain roads may not always be my first choice for travel on foot – but I have to admit that some of the most lovely vistas I have ever been to are along roads – and sometimes new routes magically open up once you abandon a strict trails-only approach.
Up the Bigelow Trail – lovely flowers and big trees, onto the Butterfly Trail up to Mount Bigelow, down Bigelow Road – great views and nice to see all the people out camping, onto to highway – Turkeys flying across and on the side of the road – and back to the Bigelow Trailhead – 6.3 miles, 860′ of elevation gain/loss.