Rusk Mtn

[mike]

On Saturday we decided to hike Rusk Mtn. The parking lot was fairly full when we arrive. We arrived later then normal, so I guess that would be expected. We put our snowshoes on and headed up the trail. When I registered at the trailhead, I didn't notice that one of our friends signed in ahead of us.

There was about 6-12" of snow on the jeep trail. Easy enough to snowshoe through. After we crossed the bridge, we took a left before for the turn of the switchback. We then headed across two of the streams and headed up the hill. There was only about 2-3 inches of snow. That sort of sucked. We continued to hike with our snowshoes. Hit a lot of rocks.

When we got near the top, we came up in a bad spot. Normally I would move east to find an easier ledge. But, there was a tree in the way, so we climbed up the steep ledge. Not so much fun.

Once we reached the top, we ran into two of our friends. Odd to find a friend while bushwhacking. We talked for about 10 minutes. We then walked up to the canister. I had wanted to hike over to the ledges west of Rusk, but we didn't have time. So, we headed down the mountain.

It was a slow slog down the hill. We somehow headed too far west. So, we had to hike east to find the jeep trail to Hunter. After walked over the bridge, we saw a fabulous sunset. Totally unexpected. To me Rusk Mtn is a pictureless hike.

Here is the sunset we saw. After we took the picture, the sky turned from orange to red. Then finally to magenta. What a great sunset.

[rkugel]

Mike,

The sunset shot is too stunning for words. What an awesome picture. The orange glow is even reflecting on the snow. How is your knee doing? I remember you noted that your knee was bothering you for a time. I haven't forgotten about hiking. It's just that every weekend has been tied up with either work or family responsibilities. Hope all is well and looking forward to meeting up in the spring.

Rich

[mike]

Rich

I wish I was at a better spot for this special sunset. The snow was glowing from the sunset. This sunset was totally unexpected. Lately, we have been getting some great sunrises and sunsets.

My knee is doing much better. Just needed some rest.

Look forward to hiking with you in the Spring. I have some other friends who want to do some photography hikes. Hope to see you soon.

[kennykb]

Nice picture!

My feet are itching to try out these new snowshoes. And it seems that every weekend something or other comes up.

[SNEAKers]

The glow of the snow is awesome! Glad you're back out hiking again!

[Jon]

Nice Sunset mike! I'd imagine that way is pretty steep going straight up the side of Rusk? It's probably a lot shorter than going around though.

I guess the snow conditions haven't improved much up there =( Now we're heading for a stretch of warm weather. It looks more and more like winter is over =(...

Maybe we should all move to Canada?

[mike]

Thanks for the comments on the photo.

After todays warm weather, and tonights torrential rains, there will not be a speck of snow left.

It has been a very disappointing Winter. But, Winter is not over yet.

[cgeigel]

Is it humanly possible that there is NO snow left at the highest elevations of, say, Indian Head, or the like? Hard to wrap my arms around the concept given it's January and yet, after the past 48 hours and low snow cover to start with, I realize it can't be ruled out since all snow melts like wildfire at those temps. EVEN LAST YEAR WAS MUCH BETTER THAN THIS!

Another question becomes that of ... ice, at those same elevations. What to expect? I'm thinking, no snow except maybe a diehard patch or two in some off-trail deep wood, but ice abounding after all this water freezes solid tonite, but not crampon-worthy, maybe just microspike/gripper-ish.

Any thoughts or personal observation out there?

We need a good blizzard - and fast.

Thanks.

[Jon]