This trail is not noted for it's views along the way and this is about the only near decent one. The mountains in the background are around 3500 feet high.


After the powerline cut, the trail gets steep....and extremely slippery. The snow is very hardpacked and does not allow your boots to sink in for any grip at all. It was here that I put the carbide tip back on the trekking pole. Coming back done this part of the trail later in the day was no fun...I ended up wrenching my knee which bothered me for the rest of the way down despite putting on a knee brace which I always carry in the backpack just for this very scenario.


The proverbial fork in the road and The end of the trail for today. By this time, there is only about 2 hours of good daylight left and it was cold with a good wind chill.



About 4 kms from the bottom of trail and parking area, it was time to stop for lunch. Even though it is winter, there is no snow in the forest area here and the ground and fallen branches/ twigs are very dry so I scraped down a bare spot for the stove,


I take my $1.99 paint can stove on every hike and it is nice to light it up whenever I need it.


Five - six minutes later, the tea is ready and time to enjoy it with my lunch.


Nothing like sitting and enjoying a few last minutes of quiet and solitude before it is time to press on down the trail.


Fire from the stove is well extinguished and the previous scraped area is returned to its natural look.