Even with a late start, the temperatures were much lower then normal. Most people would stay away with the biting cold. There was only one car in the parking lot when I pulled up.
Got my snowshoes on. I decided to take my 25" tubbs couloirs. They have aggressive cramp-ons. Most of the snow was hard with two inches of fresh powder. Perfect snowshoe weather.
I started up the Ox Hollow Road towards Hunter Mountain. I tried to move fast to warm up a bit. By the time I got to the horseshoe turn past the bridge I was feeling good. I still had my fleece Northface jacket over my microfleece shirt. The water in the creek was slightly higher then normal.
At the horseshoe turn, I turned left perpendicular to the trail. I crossed the first creek, but didn't cross the second creek. I followed the land in between the two creeks.
After a while the creek banks got quite high, so I stayed in the middle. There was a lot of blow down, so I had to zig-zag around them. I could see tracks from another person earlier in the week. But, it was hard to see the tracks, so I kept falling off their tracks. But, it didn't really matter.
The climb got steeper as I climbed higher. And, so did the blowdown. As I approached the top, the boulders started to show up, so I had to weave around them. While it was quite cold out, I just wore my microfleece. I was slightly cold, but too warm to wear my jacket.
When I was just below the ridge across the mountain range, the conifer trees appeared quickly and thickly. I had to walk east until I found a break in the tree line.
Once I got up on the ridge, it was a nice walk thru the forest of conifer trees. But, soon I was out of conifer trees and into beach trees and some open forest.
As I approached the Summit of Rusk Mountain, there was a small ledge. It was a small ledge and quite easy to get up. You can approach them on the left or right side. Once on top, it is a short hike to the summit.
I wandered around the summit a little bit. Some limited views, but nothing great. I had planned on hiking down ledges, but didn't think I had enough time. I had arrived on the summit at 2:30 PM. I just didn't have enough time to get to the ledge and get back to the car before dark.
I will leave the ledges for another time. Maybe I'll do Evergreen and go to the ledges then.
Before descending down, I checked out the bank by the top of the stream that most people come up. Okay views, but no open ledges that I could find. Walked back, and then headed down.
The trip down went quick and uneventful. Wish I had more time to do east rusk or the ledges. Still had a good time.
