Winchester Mountain — Tuesday, Nov. 4, 2025

I ventured up knowing fully well that the snow conditions were going to limit my ability to hike very far on the actual trail, but I’ve always wanted to see the lakes with snow. I parked at the YAB trailhead and walked up the remainder of the forest road. A few trucks made it a bit further, but there was already patchy ice and I didn’t want to risk it. The road walk is actually really beautiful and open, and the early season conditions meant avy conditions weren’t a worry yet. I swapped to snowshoes near the end of the forest road where the snow was a lovely fluffy powder. A handful of skiers were out enjoying some runs. I snowshoed to almost halfway up the actual trail, when the snow made it too spicy to continue. Snow depth was enough that I didn’t want to take unnecessary risks solo. It was still absolutely worth it - a beautiful day!