First camp Lightning Creek, second camp Desolation and then book it out.
The East Bank trail has been cleared of all blow-downs, there were about 7 or so easy to step-over trees down along the trail up to Desolation camp. Really, the trail is in overall great shape and well kept. I did decide to use the sandals I brought to ford Roland Creek. It looked like some people have gone upstream a bit to cross, but this was easy and that looked like a lot of hemming and hawing and hey, I actually came prepared.
Large patches of snow start at Desolation camp, but one site is completely melted out & another is almost there. The switchbacks up to the lookout are mostly melted out. Where the trail disappears, looks like most folks head straight up, as did I. The meadows here are still under several feet of snow with the southwestern facing slopes bare. Biggest obstacles here are to be mindful of tree wells also I would imagine on a warmer day postholing might suck and... if you don't have any snow travel experience, I could see that this could look intimidating. I had cool weather so boots n poles were good enough. Unfortunate for me, the cool weather meant lots of clouds and sometimes being right in the thick of them. No long views for me, but still beautiful in its own Pacific Northwest way.
Only mentioning the mosquitoes, because they're just starting to show up. Not a problem for me, but as the weather gets warmer they'll likely be a problem soon and man, just two weeks ago at nearby Thunder Creek they were a nightmare!
Wildflowers are blooming and what a way to see all the varieties in various stages along the elevation change. Loads of little critters running about and signs of some of the big guys too. Not many people out; many miles without seeing anyone, in fact. It was fantastic!
Comments