| Snow was in the forecast, but this was a rare weekend when I didn't care. I parked at the Bakerville exit and headed up the well-packed road at about 7:30am. I passed a corss-country skier and another hiker along the way just after being passed by an ATV. None of these parties ended up going beyond the summer trailhead. No one else seemed to have gone beyond there in a while. The postholing was fairly moderate from the get-go after crossing the bridge just after the summer parking lot. Then it became unpleasant for about the entire duration of the path I made to the Kelso/Torreys saddle. The weather was pretty decent nonetheless. It had been a while since I'd been so close to Grays and Torreys, looking quite majestic (photo on right). I enjoyed the solitude and pressed onward. | |
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It was nice to have semi-solid footing for a while once on the ridge. The route from the saddle was longer than I had expected, with a few false summits. Not much do do up there, so I headed down again at 10:45, taking a slightly different path while being mindful of the slope. I still didn't get anywhere near where avalanche-prone slopes are. It didn't really start snowing until I was down in the basin again at about 12,000'. The return was much easier with steps prexisting from my first go-through. Not a soul around. There were plenty a mile or so up from the Bakerville exit.
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